No Evidence of Intersexual Kin Recognition by Males of the Neotropical Paper Wasp Polistes versicolor

Abstract

We investigated the effect of kinship on mate selection by males of the neotropical primitively eusocial paper wasp Polistes versicolor. By conducting short-time, paired, consecutive, dyadic encounters, in which a male was randomly introduced separately to a related and an unrelated female in a small glass arena, we were able to observe and measure the male sexual display. We found that male sexual interest toward a female was not affected by kinship, even after controlling the differences in female behavior. Despite our finding that males were as eager to harass females, regardless of kinship, previous evidence suggested that incestuous copulation (inbreeding) in natural populations of P. versicolor appeared to be avoided. We suggest that in the natural mating habitat of the native population that we studied, in which many colonies were able to produce males and reproductive females in a short time window, the probability of finding related sexual partners was low, hence, intersexual kin discrimination did not evolve.