Geographic Variation in Air Temperature Leads to Intraspecific Variability in the Behavior and Productivity of a Eusocial Insect

Abstract

The definitive version is available at: AbstractIn primitively eusocial insects, air temperature is the environmental factor that 30 primarily affects colony cycle. Several studies demonstrated interspecific differences in the adaptation of eusocial insects to local air temperature. Nevertheless, studies on intraspecific adaptations are rare. In this study, we investigate the influence of air temperature on local adaptations in behavior and colony productivity of Polistes biglumis foundresses living in warm and cold temperate zones. We hypothesized that foundresses 35 from warm temperate zones would show a higher activity level compared to those from cold temperate zones before brood emergence, based on differences in air temperature between the two zones. After brood emergence, we expected a reduced foundress activity level in the warm climate zone, due to workers' help. In contrast, foundresses living in the cold-climate zone, which do not produce workers, were expected to remain 40 active throughout the nesting season. We also hypothesized that colony productivity was higher in warm-climate colonies. As expected, warm-climate foundresses reduced their activity level after brood emergence and, with their relatively large number of workers, continued egg production throughout the nesting season. Further studies are necessary to assess if these intraspecific differences are attributable to phenotypic plasticity or 45 genetic divergence.

Cuckoo wasps manipulate foraging and resting activities in their hosts

“…"begging" signals; Cervo et al 2004). Moreover, we would have expected to find increased foraging activity during warmer hours (in the current study, during 20 out of 30 post-parasite removal observations), due to the positive effect of air temperature on Polistes foraging activity (Fucini et al 2014). Instead, we found the opposite pattern (i.e.…”

The behavioral ecology of variation in social insects

“…Aggression in honey bees, as well as in Polistes metricus paper wasps, is linked to a decrease in oxidative phosphorylation [64-66].Ecological sources and outcomes of variationEnvironmental conditions lead to variation among colonies in life history traits within a species across a geographic cline. For example, a temperature gradient is associated with variation in colony growth and activity in subterranean termites[67,68]. Gradients in environmental conditions are associated with intraspecific variation among colonies in life-history and breeding structure[69][70][71], in resource use[30],and in interactions with other colonies[72]or other species such as pathogens[73][74][75] and parasitoids[76].Variation among colonies in behavior can have important ecological effects.…”

Divergence in Cuticular Chemical Signatures between Isolated Populations of an Intraspecific Social Parasite

“…We know that P. biglumis populations have diverged in several relevant traits, such as body size, behavioral, and life history traits (Fucini et al, 2004(Fucini et al, , 2009Lorenzi and Thompson, 2011). For example, foundresses from different populations have quantitatively distinct cuticular chemical profiles (Bonelli et al, 2015), distinct behavioral profiles and different colony productivity (Fucini et al, 2014;Mignini and Lorenzi, 2015). More relevant to the scope of this study, foundresses produce workers in some populations, including Carì, but not in others (Fucini et al, 2009;Lorenzi and Thompson, 2011).…”