Rapid juvenile hormone downregulation in subordinate wasp queens facilitates stable cooperation.

ABSTRACT: In many cooperatively breeding animals, subordinate group members have lower reproductive capacity than dominant group members. Theory suggests subordinates may downregulate their reproductive capacity because dominants punish subordinates who maintain high fertility. However, there is little direct experimental evidence that dominants cause physiological suppression in subordinates. Here, we experimentally test how social interactions influence subordinate reproductive hormones in Polistes dominula paper wasps. Polistes dominula queens commonly found nests in cooperative groups where the dominant queen is more fertile than the subordinate queen. In this study, we randomly assigned wasps to cooperative groups, assessed dominance behaviour during group formation, then measured

SUBMITTER: Tibbetts EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5829203 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature