Abstract
The observation of two distinct, well-defined oviposition areas in nests of the primitively eusocial wasp Polistes versicolor suggests the presence of multiple egg-layers and territorial behaviors. Electrophoretic analysis of enzyme loci in pupae from 35 colonies revealed an average observed heterozygosity of 0.10 and the existence of private polymorphisms, thereby indicating a low dispersion in this species. No evidence of diploid males was found. Phenotypic segregation analysis revealed the presence of more than one egg-laying female in 15 out of 35 colonies, as well as spatially preferential oviposition in 2 out of 13 nests, with distinct oviposition areas. Genetic relatedness estimates for brood were lower than expected for haplodiploid species under monogynous conditions (r = 0.75 for female broods and r = 0.5 for male) in 4 of those 13 nests, thereby inferring complex sociogenetic structuring in Polistes versicolor colonies.
Highlights
The inclusion of the inclusive fitness concept in the Hamilton (1964) kin-selection model was a significant advance in the study of the evolution of eusociality
The supernatants were subsequently used for electrophoresis analysis. 11 polymorphic loci from the 25 previously described enzyme loci (K Simokomaki, unpublished data) were selected for analysis, namely, esterases (Est1, Est2), phosphoglucomutases (Pgm1, Pgm2), isocitrate dehydrogenase (Icd), b-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (Hbdh), superoxide dismutase (Sod1), peptidase (Pep-A), leucylaminopeptidase (Lap), alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) and a-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase (Gpdh)
Genetic polymorphism was found at nine loci, inasmuch as only the electrophoretic variants a-Gpdh M and Icd S were detected in the colonies analyzed
Summary
The inclusion of the inclusive fitness concept in the Hamilton (1964) kin-selection model was a significant advance in the study of the evolution of eusociality. It is not uncommon to observe social species showing polyandry (egg-laying females mating with more than one male) or polygyny (more than one egg-laying female present in a colony), both resulting in lower levels of intracolonial genetic relatedness than predicted by the model These observations and some alternative views (Wilson and Hölldobler, 2005) seem to go against the relevance of relatedness in the evolution of eusociality, its importance was recently restated by Hughes et al (2008), who demonstrated monogamic behavior as being a basal characteristic in all eusocial lineages in Hymenoptera and, polygyny and polyandry would have emerged after these societies had been established. When polygyny or serial polygyny (the substitution of the dominant egg laying females) occurs in social species of Vespidae, there is a subsequent modification in intranidal sociogenetic structure, thereby giving rise to complex conflicts between reproductive and non-reproductive females (West-Eberhard, 1969; Andersson, 1984; Pamilo, 1990)
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