How do workers of the primitively eusocial wasp Ropalidia marginata detect the presence of their queens?

Bhadra, Anindita; Iyer, Priya; Annagiri, Sumana; Deshpande, Sujata A.; Ghosh, Susanta; Gadagkar, Raghavendra

doi:10.1016/j.jtbi.2007.01.007

Cited by 23 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Alternatively, workers may be able to detect the pheromones that may be released while the foundress is wagging its abdomen. In R. marginata the foundress uses mechanisms other than aggressive encounters to retain the highest rank in the reproductive dominance hierarchy; a promising candidate mechanism is via pheromones rubbed on the cell wall (Bhadra et al, 2007;Gadagkar, 2009). The same may be true in P. japonicus because we found that the foundress often rubbed its abdominal tip on cell walls while wagging the abdomen.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

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Polistes japonicus (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) queens monopolize ovipositing but are not the most active aggressor in dominant-subordinate interactions

et al. 2011

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In order to elucidate the dominant-subordinate relationship between the foundress and workers, five colonies of the paper wasp Polistes japonicus were observed in a netted and covered cage located outdoors. The number of workers in each colony ranged from four to eight. Workers were divided into first and second broods. Abdominal wagging and ovipositing were performed almost exclusively by the foundress throughout colony development. However, an analysis of aggressive encounters indicated that although the foundress hardly received dominance behaviors (aggression) from workers, it lacked either partially or completely the following characteristics of the queen that are usually seen in paper-wasp colonies with independent-founding queens (except in one colony that produced no second brood): the queen being socially dominant over any worker (the queen had more wins than losses in one-on-one dominance contests with any worker), exhibiting the highest frequency of dominance behaviors, and directing dominance behaviors primarily toward the socially most-dominant worker. In particular, during the mixed-brood period (when all first-and second-brood workers were present on the nest) the foundress hardly exhibited dominance behaviors toward socially dominant workers (mainly second brood) but frequently directed dominance behaviors toward socially subordinate workers (mainly first brood). The foundress disappeared in two colonies before the reproductives emerged; in these colonies the socially most-dominant worker inherited the colony and laid many eggs. The frequency of abdominal wagging by these two foundresses decreased during colony development, while it did not in the other colonies. This suggests that abdominal wagging provides information about the vigor of the performer. The superseder was socially dominant over all other workers, but spent little time wagging its abdomen and allowed some workers to lay eggs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

“…Pheromones may be used to maintain the reproductive dominance hierarchy (Bhadra et al, 2007;Gadagkar, 2009). This exception suggests that various mechanisms are used to establish the reproductive dominance hierarchy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polistes japonicus (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) queens monopolize ovipositing but are not the most active aggressor in dominant-subordinate interactions

et al. 2011

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“…The glandular content could serve as a sex pheromone, explaining its reduction in mated queens (Vander Meer et al 1998;Buschinger 2003). Alternatively, but not exclusively, mated queens could regularly discharge their abdominal glands during contests as well as other marking-related behaviours (Vander Meer and Morel 1995;Bhadra et al 2007). In two species of ants, Dinoponera quadriceps and A. cockerelli, the gamergates (reproductive workers) and queens, respectively, discharge the content of their Dufour's gland onto challenging workers with developed ovaries (Monnin et al 2002;Smith et al 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recognition of caste and mating status maintains monogyny in the ant Aphaenogaster senilis

Ruel¹,

Hefetz²,

Cerdá³

et al. 2013

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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In ants dispersing through colony fission, queens mate near their natal nest and found a new society with the help of workers. This allows potential future queens to challenge the mother queen's reproductive monopoly. Conflicts might be resolved if the mated queen signals her presence and the workers control the developmental fate of the diploid larvae (whether they develop to worker or queen). In this study we sought to determine whether, in the fissionperforming ant Aphaenogaster senilis, conflicts between queens for control of the colony are resolved by the resident queen signalling her mating status. Virgin queens were less effective than newly mated queens in inhibiting queen rearing. Moreover, potential challenger queens were recognized and heavily aggressed independent of mating status. Chemical analyses showed that mating status was associated with changes in cuticular hydrocarbon and poison gland composition, but not in Dufour's gland composition. Cuticular dimethylalkanes were identified as potential constituents that signal both caste (present in queens only) and mating status (mated queens have higher amounts). We hypothesised that pheromone emission by virgin queens did not reach the threshold needed to fully inhibit larval development into queens but was sufficiently high to stimulate overt aggression by mated queens. These findings provide evidence for the complexity of chemical communication in social insects, in which a small number of signals may have a variety of effects, depending on the context.

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“…The R. marginata queen is remarkably docile and noninteractive, and thereby unlike queens of other primitively eusocial wasps, she cannot use dominance behaviour or other behavioural interactions to maintain reproductive monopoly (Gadagkar, 2001;Bhadra et al, 2007). The Dufour's gland in R. marginata has been shown to be at least one source of the queen pheromone by which queens appear to maintain reproductive monopoly (Bhadra et al, 2010;, presumably by applying the Dufour's gland contents on the nest surface (Bhadra et al, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Queen signal should be honest to be involved in maintenance of eusociality: chemical correlates of fertility in Ropalidia marginata

Mitra

Gadagkar

2011

Insect. Soc.

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Queens of many social insect species are known to maintain reproductive monopoly by pheromonal signalling of fecundity. Queens of the primitively eusocial wasp Ropalidia marginata appear to do so using secretions from their Dufour's glands, whose hydrocarbon composition is correlated with fertility. Solitary nest foundresses of R. marginata are without nestmates; hence expressing a queen signal can be redundant, since there is no one to receive the signal. But if queen pheromone is an honest signal inextricably linked with fertility, it should correlate with fertility and be expressed irrespective of the presence or absence of receivers of the signal, by virtue of being a byproduct of the state of fertility. Hence we compared the Dufour's gland hydrocarbons and ovaries of solitary foundresses with queens and workers of post-emergence nests. Our results suggest that queen pheromone composition in R. marginata is a byproduct of fertility and hence can honestly signal fertility. This provides important new evidence for the honest signalling hypothesis.

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How do workers of the primitively eusocial wasp Ropalidia marginata detect the presence of their queens?

Cited by 23 publications

References 24 publications

Polistes japonicus (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) queens monopolize ovipositing but are not the most active aggressor in dominant-subordinate interactions

Polistes japonicus (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) queens monopolize ovipositing but are not the most active aggressor in dominant-subordinate interactions

Recognition of caste and mating status maintains monogyny in the ant Aphaenogaster senilis

Queen signal should be honest to be involved in maintenance of eusociality: chemical correlates of fertility in Ropalidia marginata

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