Multi-level social organization and nest-drifting behaviour in a eusocial insect.

Details

Ressource 1Request a copy Under indefinite embargo.
UNIL restricted access
State: Public
Version: author
License: CC BY 4.0
Serval ID
serval:BIB_D4388172A545
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Multi-level social organization and nest-drifting behaviour in a eusocial insect.
Journal
Proceedings. Biological sciences
Author(s)
Lengronne T., Mlynski D., Patalano S., James R., Keller L., Sumner S.
ISSN
1471-2954 (Electronic)
ISSN-L
0962-8452
Publication state
Published
Issued date
12/05/2021
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
288
Number
1950
Pages
20210275
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Journal Article
Publication Status: ppublish
Abstract
Stable social groups usually consist of families. However, recent studies have revealed higher level social structure, with interactions between family groups across different levels of social organization in multiple species. The explanations for why this apparently paradoxical behaviour arises appear to be varied and remain untested. Here, we use automated radio-tagging data from over 1000 wasps from 93 nests and social network analyses of over 30 000 nest visitation records to describe and explain interactions across levels of social organization in the eusocial paper wasp Polistes canadensis. We detected three levels of social organization (nest, aggregation and community) which exchange 'drifter' individuals within and between levels. The highest level (community) may be influenced by the patchiness of high-quality nesting habitats in which these insects exist. Networks of drifter movements were explained by the distance between nests, the group size of donor nests and the worker-to-brood ratios on donor and recipient nests. These findings provide some explanation for the multi-level social interactions, which may otherwise seem paradoxical. Fitness benefits across multiple levels of social organization should be considered when trying to understand animal societies.
Keywords
Polistes paper wasps, nest drifting, social evolution, social network analyses
Pubmed
Open Access
Yes
Create date
24/03/2021 18:23
Last modification date
30/06/2021 5:34
Usage data