Mutualistic Benefits Generate an Unequal Distribution of Risky Activities Among Unrelated Group Members

Kukuk, Penelope F.; Ward, S. A.; Jozwiak, Amy

doi:10.1007/s001140050528

Cited by 54 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…We do not have data on queen mortality rates for natural M. genalis nests, but in nests of the sweat bee Augochlorella striata, 43.2% of queens died within 4 weeks and were superseded by a daughter (Mueller et al 1994). Although foraging is risky (O'Donnell & Jeanne 1995;Kukuk et al 1998), foragers born to relatively old mothers may outlive them to inherit their nest.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social competition but not subfertility leads to a division of labour in the facultatively social sweat bee Megalopta genalis (Hymenoptera: Halictidae)

et al. 2009

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social competition but not subfertility leads to a division of labour in the facultatively social sweat bee Megalopta genalis (Hymenoptera: Halictidae)

et al. 2009

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“…Thus, only in single-female nests will the death of one adult lead to orphaned brood susceptible to ant predation. Protection against brood orphanage as an advantage of group living has been demonstrated for other species of both eusocial and communal halictids (Eickwort et al 1996;Kukuk et al 1998) and may be a widespread force favoring group living in this family.…”

Section: Survivalmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Offspring may still depend on adult presence for protection, however, even if they do not need to be fed, as is true for mass provisioning species in which adults fully provision each brood cell before laying an egg (Queller 1994;Eickwort et al 1996;Kukuk et al 1998;Forbes et al 2002;Smith et al 2003). Extending AFR models beyond progressive provisioners offers the chance to focus on the role of offspring defense in favoring the evolution of sociality (Lin and Michener 1972).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Extending AFR models beyond progressive provisioners offers the chance to focus on the role of offspring defense in favoring the evolution of sociality (Lin and Michener 1972). In mass provisioning species, adults fully provision each brood cell before laying an egg, but they often remain at and defend their nests (Queller 1994;Eickwort et al 1996;Kukuk et al 1998;Forbes et al 2002;Smith et al 2003). The massprovisioning bee family Halictidae is a key taxon for understanding social evolution.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Survival and productivity benefits to social nesting in the sweat bee Megalopta genalis (Hymenoptera: Halictidae)

Smith

Wcislo

O’Donnell

2007

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Facultatively solitary and eusocial species allow for direct tests of the benefits of group living. We used the facultatively social sweat bee Megalopta genalis to test several benefits of group living. We surveyed natural nests modified for observation in the field weekly for 5 weeks in 2003. First, we demonstrate that social and solitary nesting are alternative behaviors, rather than different points on one developmental trajectory. Next, we show that solitary nests suffered significantly higher rates of nest failure than did social nests. Nest failure apparently resulted from solitary foundress mortality and subsequent brood orphanage. Social nests had significantly higher productivity, measured as new brood cells provisioned during the study, than did solitary nests. After accounting for nest failures, per capita productivity did not change with group size. Our results support key predictions of Assured Fitness Return models, suggesting such indirect fitness benefits favor eusocial nesting in M. genalis. We compared field collections of natural nests to our observation nest data to show that without accounting for nest failures, M. genalis appear to suffer a per capita productivity decrease with increasing group size. Calculating per capita productivity from collected nests without accounting for the differential probabilities of survival across group sizes leads to an overestimate of solitary nest productivity.

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“…The disease-resistance hypothesis posits that genetic diversity better enables social groups to withstand parasites or pathogens through the increased likelihood that resistant genotypes will be present (Liersch & Schmid-Hempel 1998;Baer & Schmid-Hempel 1999). Genetic diversity plays a role in the task-efficiency hypothesis as well: colonies as a whole are posited to enjoy enhanced growth and reproductive benefits under diverse conditions through the specialization of colony members in the performance of key colonymaintenance or brood-rearing tasks (Kukuk et al 1998;Cole & Wiernasz 1999;Page & Erber 2002). Performance specialization may simply be a by-product of variable stimulus-intensity thresholds required for the expression of particular behaviours among colony members; if such task thresholds have some heritable basis, then increasing genetic diversity in the group may enhance behavioural specialization.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fitness effects of group merging in a social insect

Costa

Ross

2003

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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Animal social groups often consist of non-relatives, a condition that arises in many cases because of group merging. Although indirect fitness contributions are reduced in such groups compared with those in groups composed of close kin, the genetic-heterogeneity hypothesis suggests that these groups may benefit from increased intracolony genetic variation, which may boost group performance through increased task efficiency or parasite resistance. We confirm one prediction of the task-efficiency explanation by demonstrating a genetic basis for task thresholds of socially important behaviours in eastern tent caterpillars. However, we found no evidence that the expanded range of task thresholds in mixed colonies translates into improved individual or colony performance in the field. By contrast, increased group size, a less commonly considered correlate of group mixing, was found to enhance individual fitness through its effects on larval growth. We conclude that fitness benefits offsetting the dilution of relatedness in heterogeneous social groups may often stem from augmented group size rather than increased genotypic diversity.

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Mutualistic Benefits Generate an Unequal Distribution of Risky Activities Among Unrelated Group Members

Cited by 54 publications

References 21 publications

Social competition but not subfertility leads to a division of labour in the facultatively social sweat bee Megalopta genalis (Hymenoptera: Halictidae)

Social competition but not subfertility leads to a division of labour in the facultatively social sweat bee Megalopta genalis (Hymenoptera: Halictidae)

Survival and productivity benefits to social nesting in the sweat bee Megalopta genalis (Hymenoptera: Halictidae)

Fitness effects of group merging in a social insect

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