Grooming Patterns in the Primitively Eusocial Wasp Polistes dominulus

Using social parasitism to test reproductive skew models in a primitively eusocial wasp

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...

Helping effort in primitively eusocial wasps

In primitively eusocial and cooperatively breeding societies, there is substantial individual variation in helping effort that is not accounted for by variation in genetic relatedness. In primitively eusocial wasps, helpers have a significant chance of inheriting breeding positions. Recent models suggest that because helpers with greater expected future fitness have more to lose, they should in...

Long live the wasp: adult longevity in captive colonies of the eusocial paper wasp Polistes canadensis (L.)

Insects have been used as an exemplary model in studying longevity, from extrinsic mortality pressures to intrinsic senescence. In the highly eusocial insects, great degrees of variation in lifespan exist between morphological castes in relation to extreme divisions of labour, but of particular interest are the primitively eusocial insects. These species represent the ancestral beginnings of eu...

Polistes canadensis wasp , benefits explain helping behaviour in the primitively eusocial Reproductive constraints , direct fitness and indirect fitness

On status badges and quality signals in the paper wasp Polistes dominulus: body size, facial colour patterns and hierarchical rank.

To establish a dominance order, social animals often rely on indicators of fighting to avoid costly aggressive encounters. In some species, individuals use colour patterns to signal their social status. Recent studies claimed that facial markings in the eusocial paper wasp Polistes dominulus are status badges that allow co-foundresses to form a linear hierarchy based on individual quality. Here...