Foundress Number, But Not Queen Size or Boldness, Predicts Colony Life-History in Wild Paper Wasps

Abstract

3Colonies of social insects exhibit a spectacular variety of life histories. Here we documented the 1 4 degree of variation in colony life-history traits, mostly related to productivity, in two species of 1 5 wild paper wasps. We then tested for associations between colony life-history traits to look for 1 6 trade-offs or positively associated syndromes, and examined whether individual differences in 1 7 the behavioral tendencies of foundresses (Polistes metricus) or the number of cofoundresses (P. 1 8 fuscatus) influenced colony life-history. The majority of our measures of colony life-history 1 9 were positively related, indicating no obvious resource allocation trade-offs. Instead, the positive 2 0association of traits into a productivity syndrome appears to be driven by differences in queen or 2 1 microhabitat quality. Syndrome structure differed only marginally between species. Queen 2 2 boldness and body size were not associated with colony life-history in P. metricus. Colonies 2 3 initiated by multiple P. fuscatus foundresses were generally more productive, and this advantage 2 4was approximately proportional to the number of cofoundresses. These findings demonstrate that 2 5 colony life-history traits can be associated together much like individual life-history traits, and 2 6 the associations seen here convey that differences in overall productivity drive between-colony 2 7 differences in life-history. 2 8