Sight in a Clique, Scent in Society: Plasticity in the Use of Nestmate Recognition Cues Along Colony Development in the Social Wasp Polistes dominula

Cini, Alessandro; Cappa, Federico; Pepiciello, Irene; Platania, Leonardo; Dapporto, Leonardo; Cervo, Rita

doi:10.3389/fevo.2019.00444

Cited by 24 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 65 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Our results may appear in contrast with these earlier studies that investigated the ontogeny of recognition abilities in Polistes wasps, demonstrating that exposure solely to the nest paper during the first few hours post-emergence was necessary and sufficient to form a reliable referent template [7,14,66,76]. Nevertheless, previous research on the ontogeny of NMR was carried out using other temperate species of Polistes as model species [7,66,76], and it is possible that different species might evolve different strategies, involving also different sensory channels, to recognize potential intruders [72,77]. Moreover, these studies [7,66], as well as most of the pioneering researches exploring the ontogeny of recognition abilities in both vertebrates and invertebrates, tested the existence of a critical window for cue-learning and template formation in experimental conditions of social deprivation [7,[37][38][39][40][41]66].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…After acceptance, experimental wasps were left for 24 h on their foster colonies before recognition bioassays were performed. Signorotti et al [59] showed that a time window of 24 h on a nest is sufficient for the focal wasps to develop their NMR abilities and to perform the typical behavioural repertoire towards approaching intruders (presented lures) [70][71][72]. Another four wasps belonging to the three different treatments (1 C, 1 F, 2 N) did not approach the nest during the hour post-introduction into the cage and were not on the nest the following day; thus, they were not tested in recognition bioassays.…”

Section: (B) Experimental Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Rethinking recognition: social context in adult life rather than early experience shapes recognition in a social wasp

Cappa

Cini

Signorotti

et al. 2020

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Social recognition represents the foundation of social living. To what extent social recognition is hard-wired by early-life experience or flexible and influenced by social context of later life stages is a crucial question in animal behaviour studies. Social insects have represented classic models to investigate the subject, and the acknowledged idea is that relevant information to create the referent template for nest-mate recognition (NMR) is usually acquired during an early sensitive period in adult life. Experimental evidence, however, highlighted that other processes may also be at work in creating the template and that such a template may be updated during adult life according to social requirements. However, currently, we lack an ad hoc experiment testing the alternative hypotheses at the basis of NMR ontogeny in social insects. Thus, to investigate the mechanisms underlying the ontogeny of NMR in Polistes wasps, a model genus in recognition studies, and their different role in determining recognition abilities, we subjected Polistes dominula workers to different olfactory experiences in different phases of their life before inserting them into the social environment of a novel colony and testing them in recognition bioassays. Our results show that workers develop their NMR abilities based on their social context rather than through pre-imaginal and early learning or self-referencing. Our study demonstrates that the social context represents the major component shaping recognition abilities in a social wasp, therefore shedding new light on the ontogeny of recognition in paper wasps and prompting the reader to rethink about the traditional knowledge at the basis of the recognition in social insects. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Signal detection theory in recognition systems: from evolving models to experimental tests'.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: (B) Experimental Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rethinking recognition: social context in adult life rather than early experience shapes recognition in a social wasp

Cappa

Cini

Signorotti

et al. 2020

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The idea that workers might be able detect the social parasite would then raise interesting and important questions about the cues that workers use to do so. Workers could recognize the presence of the parasite by two main sensory modalities: smell, by detecting cues associated with the parasite itself or with its brood (eggs, larvae and pupae) (Cervo et al 2008;Cini et al 2014;Lorenzi 2006) or sight (Cini et al 2019), by recognising the facial pattern of the parasite, a major point of difference in parasite and host morphology (Cervo et al 2015;Ortolani et al 2010). The timing of workers response (day 1 and day 14) suggests that visual (facial recognition) and chemical cues (recognition of the odour of the adult) might be the cues informing workers of parasite presence.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioural and neurogenomic responses of host workers to social parasite invasion in a social insect

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The strong coevolutionary arms race between social parasites and their hosts has dramatically shaped the life-history traits of both parties. One of the main strategies exhibited by hosts in response to parasitism is reproduction by host workers. We lack a mechanistic understanding of how these defence strategies unfold and, specifically, whether hosts exhibit more subtle strategies to reduce the costs of parasitism from the outset. Here we test the hypothesis that there are both behavioural and neurogenomic signatures of worker responses to parasitism, prior to overt expression in the form of egg-laying; we test this using the social parasite—social host system of the paper wasps Polistes sulcifer-Polistes dominula. We characterized individual workers’ position within the social interaction network of queenright and host colonies immediately after parasite usurpation, weeks before the workers’ reproductive rebellion is evident. Parasitism influenced network centrality measures, with workers in parasitized colonies showing increased connectedness and centrality compared to those in unparasitized ones. Next, we quantified brain gene expression levels for five genes related to physiological and behavioural phenotypes in Polistes wasps. The gene Imaginal disc growth factor (Idgf4), thought to be responsive to changes in the social environment, was significantly down-regulated in workers from parasitized colonies; this may be an indication that parasitized workers are anticipating a shift toward a less worker-like phenotype in preparation for their reproductive rebellion. Our results provide the first evidence of early behavioural and neurogenomic responses of host workers toward the presence of an inquiline social parasite in a social insect.

show abstract

“…For example, in highly eusocial ant and wasp societies, living in underground or inside constructed nests, the role of chemical cues is predominant (Akino 2008 ). However, recently it was found that in eusocially primitive paper wasp Polistes dominula there was a differential use of visual and chemical cues depending on the colony size (Cini et al 2019 ). Therefore, the signalling role of colour may depend on the level of social organisation.…”

Section: Diversity Of Colour Functions In Social Insectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Benefits of insect colours: a review from social insect studies

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Insect colours assist in body protection, signalling, and physiological adaptations. Colours also convey multiple channels of information. These channels are valuable for species identification, distinguishing individual quality, and revealing ecological or evolutionary aspects of animals’ life. During recent years, the emerging interest in colour research has been raised in social hymenopterans such as ants, wasps, and bees. These insects provide important ecosystem services and many of those are model research organisms. Here we review benefits that various colour types give to social insects, summarize practical applications, and highlight further directions. Ants might use colours principally for camouflage, however the evolutionary function of colour in ants needs more attention; in case of melanin colouration there is evidence for its interrelation with thermoregulation and pathogen resistance. Colours in wasps and bees have confirmed linkages to thermoregulation, which is increasingly important in face of global climate change. Besides wasps use colours for various types of signalling. Colour variations of well chemically defended social insects are the mimetic model for unprotected organisms. Despite recent progress in molecular identification of species, colour variations are still widely in use for species identification. Therefore, further studies on variability is encouraged. Being closely interconnected with physiological and biochemical processes, insect colouration is a great source for finding new ecological indicators and biomarkers. Due to novel digital imaging techniques, software, and artificial intelligence there are emerging possibilities for new advances in this topic. Further colour research in social insects should consider specific features of sociality.

show abstract

Sight in a Clique, Scent in Society: Plasticity in the Use of Nestmate Recognition Cues Along Colony Development in the Social Wasp Polistes dominula

Cited by 24 publications

References 65 publications

Rethinking recognition: social context in adult life rather than early experience shapes recognition in a social wasp

Rethinking recognition: social context in adult life rather than early experience shapes recognition in a social wasp

Behavioural and neurogenomic responses of host workers to social parasite invasion in a social insect

Benefits of insect colours: a review from social insect studies

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About