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Cini A, Cappa F, Pepiciello I, Platania L, Dapporto L, Cervo R. Sight in a Clique, Scent in Society: Plasticity in the Use of Nestmate Recognition Cues Along Colony Development in the Social Wasp Polistes dominula. Front Ecol Evol 2019. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2019.00444] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
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Sánchez-Tójar A, Nakagawa S, Sánchez-Fortún M, Martin DA, Ramani S, Girndt A, Bókony V, Kempenaers B, Liker A, Westneat DF, Burke T, Schroeder J. Meta-analysis challenges a textbook example of status signalling and demonstrates publication bias. eLife 2018; 7:37385. [PMID: 30420005 PMCID: PMC6234027 DOI: 10.7554/elife.37385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2018] [Accepted: 10/11/2018] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The status signalling hypothesis aims to explain within-species variation in ornamentation by suggesting that some ornaments signal dominance status. Here, we use multilevel meta-analytic models to challenge the textbook example of this hypothesis, the black bib of male house sparrows (Passer domesticus). We conducted a systematic review, and obtained primary data from published and unpublished studies to test whether dominance rank is positively associated with bib size across studies. Contrary to previous studies, the overall effect size (i.e. meta-analytic mean) was small and uncertain. Furthermore, we found several biases in the literature that further question the support available for the status signalling hypothesis. We discuss several explanations including pleiotropic, population- and context-dependent effects. Our findings call for reconsidering this established textbook example in evolutionary and behavioural ecology, and should stimulate renewed interest in understanding within-species variation in ornamental traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alfredo Sánchez-Tójar
- Evolutionary Biology Group, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany.,Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, United Kingdom
| | - Shinichi Nakagawa
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sidney, Australia
| | - Moisès Sánchez-Fortún
- Evolutionary Biology Group, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany.,Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
| | - Dominic A Martin
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, United Kingdom
| | - Sukanya Ramani
- Evolutionary Biology Group, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany.,Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Antje Girndt
- Evolutionary Biology Group, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany.,Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, United Kingdom
| | - Veronika Bókony
- Lendület Evolutionary Ecology Research Group, Plant Protection Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Bart Kempenaers
- Department of Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany
| | - András Liker
- MTA-PE Evolutionary Ecology Research Group, University of Pannonia, Veszprém, Hungary
| | - David F Westneat
- Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, United States
| | - Terry Burke
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
| | - Julia Schroeder
- Evolutionary Biology Group, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Seewiesen, Germany.,Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, United Kingdom
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3
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Wright CM, Hyland TD, Izzo AS, McDermott DR, Tibbetts EA, Pruitt JN. Polistes metricus queens exhibit personality variation and behavioral syndromes. Curr Zool 2018; 64:45-52. [PMID: 29492037 PMCID: PMC5809027 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zox008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2016] [Accepted: 02/01/2017] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Consistent differences in behavior between individuals, otherwise known as animal personalities, have become a staple in behavioral ecology due to their ability to explain a wide range of phenomena. Social organisms are especially serviceable to animal personality techniques because they can be used to explore behavioral variation at both the individual and group level. Despite the success of personality research in social organisms generally, and social Hymenoptera in particular, social wasps (Vespidae) have received little to no attention in the personality literature. In the present study, we test Polistes metricus (Vespidae; Polistinae) paper wasp queens for the presence of repeatable variation in, and correlations ("behavioral syndromes") between, several commonly used personality metrics: boldness, aggressiveness, exploration, and activity. Our results indicate that P. metricus queens exhibit personalities for all measured traits and correlations between different behavioral measures. Given that paper wasps have served as a model organism for a wide range of phenomena such as kin selection, dominance hierarchies, mate choice, facial recognition, social parasitism, and chemical recognition, we hope that our results will motivate researchers to explore whether, or to what degree, queen personality is important in their research programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colin M Wright
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - Trevor D Hyland
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - Amanda S Izzo
- Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Donna R McDermott
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - Elizabeth A Tibbetts
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1048, USA
| | - Jonathan N Pruitt
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
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Tibbetts EA, Forrest T, Vernier C, Jinn J, Madagame A. Socially selected ornaments and fitness: Signals of fighting ability in paper wasps are positively associated with survival, reproductive success, and rank. Evolution 2015; 69:2917-26. [PMID: 26456701 DOI: 10.1111/evo.12793] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2015] [Revised: 09/14/2015] [Accepted: 09/23/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Many animals have ornaments that mediate choice and competition in social and sexual contexts. Individuals with elaborate sexual ornaments typically have higher fitness than those with less elaborate ornaments, but less is known about whether socially selected ornaments are associated with fitness. Here, we test the relationship between fitness and facial patterns that are a socially selected signal of fighting ability in Polistes dominula wasps. We found wasps that signal higher fighting ability have larger nests, are more likely to survive harsh winters, and obtain higher dominance rank than wasps that signal lower fighting ability. In comparison, body weight was not associated with fitness. Larger wasps were dominant over smaller wasps, but showed no difference in nest size or survival. Overall, the positive relationship between wasp facial patterns and fitness indicates that receivers can obtain diverse information about a signaler's phenotypic quality by paying attention to socially selected ornaments. Therefore, there are surprisingly strong parallels between the information conveyed by socially and sexually selected signals. Similar fitness relationships in social and sexually selected signals may be one reason it can be difficult to distinguish the role of social versus sexual selection in ornament evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth A Tibbetts
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109.
| | - Taylor Forrest
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109
| | - Cassondra Vernier
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109.,Current Address: Department of Biology, Washington University St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Judy Jinn
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109.,Current Address: Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, California
| | - Andrew Madagame
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109
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Green JP, Cant MA, Field J. Using social parasitism to test reproductive skew models in a primitively eusocial wasp. Proc Biol Sci 2015; 281:20141206. [PMID: 24990668 PMCID: PMC4100523 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2014.1206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Remarkable variation exists in the distribution of reproduction (skew) among members of cooperatively breeding groups, both within and between species. Reproductive skew theory has provided an important framework for understanding this variation. In the primitively eusocial Hymenoptera, two models have been routinely tested: concessions models, which assume complete control of reproduction by a dominant individual, and tug-of-war models, which assume on-going competition among group members over reproduction. Current data provide little support for either model, but uncertainty about the ability of individuals to detect genetic relatedness and difficulties in identifying traits conferring competitive ability mean that the relative importance of concessions versus tug-of-war remains unresolved. Here, we suggest that the use of social parasitism to generate meaningful variation in key social variables represents a valuable opportunity to explore the mechanisms underpinning reproductive skew within the social Hymenoptera. We present a direct test of concessions and tug-of-war models in the paper wasp Polistes dominulus by exploiting pronounced changes in relatedness and power structures that occur following replacement of the dominant by a congeneric social parasite. Comparisons of skew in parasitized and unparasitized colonies are consistent with a tug-of-war over reproduction within P. dominulus groups, but provide no evidence for reproductive concessions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan P Green
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, John Maynard Smith Building, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK
| | - Michael A Cant
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn TR10 9EZ, UK
| | - Jeremy Field
- School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, John Maynard Smith Building, Brighton BN1 9QG, UK
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Facial markings in the social cuckoo wasp Polistes sulcifer: No support for the visual deception and the assessment hypotheses. Behav Processes 2014; 111:19-24. [PMID: 25447514 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2014.11.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2014] [Revised: 10/27/2014] [Accepted: 11/11/2014] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Insect social parasites have to conquer a host colony by overcoming its defensive barriers. In addition to increased fighting abilities, many social parasites evolved sophisticated sensory deception mechanisms to elude host colonies defenses by exploiting host communication channels. Recently, it has been shown that the conspicuous facial markings of a paper wasp social parasite, Polistes sulcifer, decrease the aggressiveness of host foundresses. Two main hypotheses stand as explanations of this phenomenon: visual sensory deception (i.e. the black patterning reduces host aggression by exploiting the host visual communication system) and visual quality assessment (i.e. facial markings reduce aggressiveness as they signal the increased fighting ability of parasites). Through behavioral assays and morphological measurements we tested three predictions resulting from these hypotheses and found no support either for the visual sensory deception or for the quality assessment to explain the reduction in host aggressiveness towards the parasite. Our results suggest that other discrimination processes may explain the observed phenomenon.
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