Regulation of Social Hierarchy Over Time in Colonies of the Primitive Eusocial Wasp Mischocyttarus (Monocyttarus) cassununga. Von Ihering, 1903 (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)

Murakami, André Sunao Nishiuchi; Shima, Sulene Noriko

doi:10.2317/jkes0712.04.1

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…This way, we think our analyses suggest a novel view about the importance of the behavioral repertoire of females in wasp nests, at least in the genus Mischocyttarus, which is endemic to the Americas. We think that this new scenario might explain why M. cassununga is characterized by a stable linear social hierarchy (Murakami & Shima, 2010) and why dominants of this species eat more protein than the subordinates of the nest (Murakami & Shima, 2006). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Division of labor in stable social hierarchy of the independent-founding wasp Mischocyttarus (Monocyttarus) cassununga, Von Ihering (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)

Murakami¹,

Desuó²,

Shima³

2013

Sociobiology

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In colonies of independent-founding wasps, social organization is characterized by a division of labor wherein the most dominant female (the queen) spends more time on the nest comb during its development, while the subordinates (workers) perform most of the foraging. The present study aimed at describing how tasks are assigned among the members of colonies of Mischocyttarus cassununga (Von Ihering) during the post-emergence phase. For this, we daily tape recorded the behavioral repertoire of thirteen colonies in the field, later analyzing the results of each colonial subphase with Statistic analysis (Principal Component Analysis, Clustering Analysis and ANOVA - Tukey-Kramer t-test p<0.05). Our results showed that the assignment of tasks in M. cassununga generally reflects the dominance hierarchy. Despite of the behavioral flexibility of basal eusocial wasps, it was possible to identify different groups of subordinate females (workers) in the colony. The division of labor during the pre-male subphase was delineated with four defined groups whereas the post-male subphase with three groups. Pre-male: G1 - a dominant group of reproductive females, G2 - a group of higher hierarchically subordinate females (these can sometimes perform tasks very similar to the queens), G3 - a subordinate group of forager females, and G4 - a subordinate group of inactive and principally young wasps. Post-male: G1, G2 and G3 (similar groups during pre-male subphase, but without G4. We think these analyses suggest a novel view of the importance of the behavioral repertoire of higher hierarchically subordinate females in wasp nests, at least in the genus Mischocyttarus.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Division of labor in stable social hierarchy of the independent-founding wasp Mischocyttarus (Monocyttarus) cassununga, Von Ihering (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)

Murakami¹,

Desuó²,

Shima³

2013

Sociobiology

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“…Mischocyttarus cassununga is a species of neotropical wasp characterized by a linear and well stable dominance hierarchy, high longevity and rare replacement of the reproductive dominant female ("queen") in the colony (Murakami & Shima, 2009;Murakami & Shima, 2010). The aims of the present study were to verify whether intercolonial identity could be discriminated using the cuticular hydrocarbons.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Cuticular Hydrocarbons Profiles in the Colonial Recognition of the Neotropical Eusocial Wasp, Mischocyttarus cassununga (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)

Murakami¹,

Nunes²,

Desuó³

et al. 2015

Sociobiology

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“…Bruyndonckx et al [10] carried out experimental manipulations on Ropalidia marginata and suggested that dominance and subordination interactions, beyond social control, also act as a signal for workers to collect more food. Physiological conditions of females, such as the amount of fat body and ovarian development, are positively related to the dominance rank in Mischocyttarus cassununga [11,12]. Litte [13] verified that when the queens of Mischocyttarus mexicanus were removed the non-egglaying foundresses were capable of developing their ovaries and started to lay eggs one week after the queen's removal.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

The Effects of the Social Hierarchy Destabilization on the Foraging Activity of Eusocial WaspMischocyttarus cerberus styxRichards, 1940 (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Polistinae)

Filho¹,

Shima²,

Desuó³

et al. 2011

Psyche: A Journal of Entomology

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The genusMischocyttaruscomprises 245 species of neotropical basal eusocial wasps. They form small colonies (rarely more than few tens of individuals); castes are morphologically undifferentiated and determined behaviorally by agonistic interactions. The aim of this study was to verify the effects of the experimental disruption of social hierarchy on foraging activity ofMischocyttarus cerberus styx. We observed six colonies in postemergence phase and recorded data on the foraging activity under two experimental conditions: (1) removal of lower-ranked females and (2) removal of higher ranked females, except the queen. Our results showed that the removal of higher-ranked females had higher effect on the number of foraging trips ofM. cerberus styxthan the removal of lower-ranked females (the number of foraging trips/hour decreased by 66.4% and 32.7%, resp.). Such results are likely due to the social organization of this species and the presence of a distinct class of females, which in this study were regarded as intermediates. Our data also showed that, irrespective of the hierarchical status of the females, the removal of two or three individuals affected significantly the number of foraging trips in this species.

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Regulation of Social Hierarchy Over Time in Colonies of the Primitive Eusocial Wasp Mischocyttarus (Monocyttarus) cassununga. Von Ihering, 1903 (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)

Cited by 6 publications

References 19 publications

Division of labor in stable social hierarchy of the independent-founding wasp Mischocyttarus (Monocyttarus) cassununga, Von Ihering (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)

Division of labor in stable social hierarchy of the independent-founding wasp Mischocyttarus (Monocyttarus) cassununga, Von Ihering (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)

The Cuticular Hydrocarbons Profiles in the Colonial Recognition of the Neotropical Eusocial Wasp, Mischocyttarus cassununga (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)

The Effects of the Social Hierarchy Destabilization on the Foraging Activity of Eusocial WaspMischocyttarus cerberus styxRichards, 1940 (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Polistinae)

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