On reconfirming the evidence for pre-imaginal caste bias in a primitively eusocial wasp

Gadagkar, Raghavendra; Bhagavan, Seetha; Malpe, Rashmi; Vinutha, C.

doi:10.1007/bf03186384

Cited by 26 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Although JH-mediated physiological diapause has not been demonstrated in tropical wasps a diapause-like state has been observed in females P. instabilis in Costa Rica (60) which, like the wasps of our Panamanian study population, experience a strong dry season. Females of R. marginata in Bangalore, India (13°N latitude) undergo a reproductive arrest during relatively cool winter months (61), raising the possibility that the presence of idle or ''sitter'' females in some tropical social wasps (16,31,62) could involve a JH-mediated polyphenism.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Juvenile hormone, reproduction, and worker behavior in the neotropical social waspPolistes canadensis

Giray

Giovanetti²,

West‐Eberhard³

2005

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

173

112

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Previous studies of the division of labor in colonies of eusocial Hymenoptera (wasps and bees) have led to two hypotheses regarding the evolution of juvenile hormone (JH) involvement. The novel-or single-function hypothesis proposes that the role of JH has changed from an exclusively reproductive function in primitively eusocial species (those lacking morphologically distinct queen and worker castes), to an exclusively behavioral function in highly eusocial societies (those containing morphologically distinct castes). In contrast, the split-function hypothesis proposes that JH originally functioned in the regulation of both reproduction and behavior in ancestral solitary species. Then, when reproductive and brood-care tasks came to be divided between queens and workers, the effects of JH were divided as well, with JH involved in regulation of reproductive maturation of egg-laying queens, and behavioral maturation, manifested as age-correlated changes in worker tasks, of workers. We report experiments designed to test these hypotheses. After documenting age-correlated changes in worker behavior (age polyethism) in the neotropical primitively eusocial wasp Polistes canadensis, we demonstrate that experimental application of the JH analog methoprene accelerates the onset of guarding behavior, an age-correlated task, and increases the number of foraging females; and we demonstrate that JH titers correlate with both ovarian development of queens and task differentiation in workers, as predicted by the split-function hypothesis. These findings support a view of social insect evolution that sees the contrasting worker and queen phenotypes as derived via decoupling of reproductive and brood-care components of the ancestral solitary reproductive physiology.behavioral development ͉ division of labor ͉ methoprene ͉ worker polyethism

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Juvenile hormone, reproduction, and worker behavior in the neotropical social waspPolistes canadensis

Giray

Giovanetti²,

West‐Eberhard³

2005

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

173

112

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Only about 50% of freshly eclosing female wasps are capable of initiating nests and laying eggs even when they are isolated from conspecifics. Even among the egg layers there is considerable variation in the time required to initiate egg laying (Gadagkar et al , 1990. Both of these forms of pre-imagina1 caste bias namely, differentiation into egg layers and non egg layers and into early and late reproducers is mediated through larval nutrition.…”

Section: The Roles Of Parental Manipulation and Subfertilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Social insects and social amoebae

Gadagkar

Bonner

1994

J. Biosci.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. The evolution of social groupings in insects, especially wasps, is compared to that of social amoebae (cellular slime mould<;). They both show a gamut of colony sizes, from solitary forms to complex colonies with a division of labour. The various ideas as to how there might have been an evolution of complexity within insect societies, such as the role of genetic relatedness, the role of mutualism, the origin of sterility. the manipulation and exploitation of some individuals by others within a colony. are discussed, and then applied to social amoebae. The result is both interesting and instructive: despite some differences, there are many striking parallels, which suggests that there are some common denominators in the formation and evolution of a social existence among organisms.

show abstract

“…This idea has been proposed repeatedly in such forms as the 'sub-fertility hypothesis', 'parental manipulation', 'pre-imaginal caste bias', etc. (Alexander, 1974;Craig, 1983;Field and Foster, 1999;Gadagkar et al, 1988;Gadagkar et al, 1990;Gadagkar et al, 1991;WestEberhard, 1975).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Only about 50% of the eclosing individuals build nests and lay eggs when isolated into individual holding boxes in the laboratory and provided with ad libitum food and building material. The other half die without ever laying eggs in spite of living, on average, as long as or longer than the egg layers (Gadagkar et al, 1988;Gadagkar et al, 1990;Gadagkar et al, 1991). The advantage of experimenting with freshly eclosed female wasps maintained in isolation in the laboratory is that we may rule out or minimize the influence of such factors as social interactions, dominance, queen pheromone, etc., and attribute the observed inter-individual variation in reproductive potential to intrinsic properties of the eclosing wasps, including any effects of the larval environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ovarian developmental variation in the primitively eusocial waspRopalidia marginatasuggests a gateway to worker ontogeny and the evolution of sociality

Shukla

Chandran

Gadagkar

2012

Journal of Experimental Biology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SUMMARYSocial insects are characterized by reproductive caste differentiation of colony members into one or a small number of fertile queens and a large number of sterile workers. The evolutionary origin and maintenance of such sterile workers remains an enduring puzzle in insect sociobiology. Here, we studied ovarian development in over 600 freshly eclosed, isolated, virgin female Ropalidia marginata wasps, maintained in the laboratory. The wasps differed greatly both in the time taken to develop their ovaries and in the magnitude of ovarian development despite having similar access to resources. All females started with no ovarian development at day zero, and the percentage of individuals with at least one oocyte at any stage of development increased gradually across age, reached 100% at 100days and decreased slightly thereafter. Approximately 40% of the females failed to develop ovaries within the average ecological lifespan of the species. Age, body size and adult feeding rate, when considered together, were the most important factors governing ovarian development. We suggest that such flexibility and variation in the potential and timing of reproductive development may physiologically predispose females to accept worker roles and thus provide a gateway to worker ontogeny and the evolution of sociality.

show abstract

On reconfirming the evidence for pre-imaginal caste bias in a primitively eusocial wasp

Cited by 26 publications

References 5 publications

Juvenile hormone, reproduction, and worker behavior in the neotropical social waspPolistes canadensis

Juvenile hormone, reproduction, and worker behavior in the neotropical social waspPolistes canadensis

Social insects and social amoebae

Ovarian developmental variation in the primitively eusocial waspRopalidia marginatasuggests a gateway to worker ontogeny and the evolution of sociality

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About