Why wasp foundresses change nests: relatedness, dominance, and nest quality.

ABSTRACT: The costs and benefits of different social options are best understood when individuals can be followed as they make different choices, something that can be difficult in social insects. In this detailed study, we follow overwintered females of the social wasp Polistes carolina through different nesting strategies in a stratified habitat where nest site quality varies with proximity to a foraging area, and genetic relatedness among females is known. Females may initiate nests, join nests temporarily or permanently, or abandon nests. Females can become helpers or egglayers, effectively workers or queens. What they actually do can be predicted by a combination of ecological and relatedness factors. Advantages through increased lifetime success of individuals and nests drives foundresses of t

SUBMITTER: Seppa P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3458021 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature