Individual recognition is associated with holistic face processing in Polistes paper wasps in a species-specific way.

ABSTRACT: Most recognition is based on identifying features, but specialization for face recognition in primates relies on a different mechanism, termed 'holistic processing' where facial features are bound together into a gestalt which is more than the sum of its parts. Here, we test whether individual face recognition in paper wasps also involved holistic processing using a modification of the classic part-whole test in two related paper wasp species: Polistes fuscatus, which use facial patterns to individually identify conspecifics, and Polistes dominula, which lacks individual recognition. We show that P. fuscatus use holistic processing to discriminate between P. fuscatus face images but not P. dominula face images. By contrast, P. dominula do not rely

SUBMITTER: Tibbetts EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7893282 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature