Abstract
The division of tasks among nestmates is one of the most important traits of the social Hymenoptera, and is responsible for their evolutionary success. This division of labor, which occurs among workers throughout their lives, is called temporal polyethism. This study investigated how temporal polyethism occurs, and its effects on the life expectancy of the eusocial wasp Polistes canadensis canadensis Linnaeus. To evaluate the different activities and determine longevity, newly emerged females were individually marked with colored dots on the mesosome. During their lives, workers perform 22 behavioral acts, and the Nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling analysis revealed a variation in the pattern of behaviors performed until the fifth week of life, i.e., close to their mean longevity. The mean life expectancy was 37.06 ± 29.07 days, with a mortality rate of 24.14% in the first week, coinciding with the onset of foraging activity. In other, less-derived species this began early in the life of the workers. The high entropy value (H = 0.750) reflects the high mortality rate in the first weeks of life.
Highlights
According to Wilson (1990), the non-reproductive division of labor among nestmates is the evolutionary advantage that most promoted the ecological success of social insects
In most derived social insects there is a clear temporal polyethism, in which young workers care for the offspring, more often performing intra-nest tasks, while older workers forage and defend the colony, as described for Apis mellifera (Linnaeus) (Huang & Robinson, 1996), Polybia occidentalis (Olivier) (O’Donnell, 2001), Pheidole dentata (Mayr) (Wilson, 1976), Trachymyrmex septentrionalis (Wheeler) (Beshers & Traniello, 1996) and Agelaia pallipes (Olivier) (Nascimento et al, 2005), all species that are considered more derived within
The degree of temporal polyethism seems to be related to the size of the colony (Wilson, 1971; Thomas & Elgar, 2003), since the division of labor among workers in general is directly proportional to colony size (Jeanne, 1986)
Summary
According to Wilson (1990), the non-reproductive division of labor among nestmates is the evolutionary advantage that most promoted the ecological success of social insects. This division of labor among workers that continues throughout their lifetimes is known as temporal polyethism; or if according to the morphology of the individual, morphological polyethism (Naug & Gadagkar, 1998a). This phenomenon is most common in termites (Noroit, 1989) and ants (Hölldobler & Wilson, 1990), and was recently discovered in a species of bee, Tetragonisca angustula (Latreille) (Grüter et al, 2011). In most derived social insects there is a clear temporal polyethism, in which young workers care for the offspring, more often performing intra-nest tasks, while older workers forage and defend the colony, as described for Apis mellifera (Linnaeus) (Huang & Robinson, 1996), Polybia occidentalis (Olivier) (O’Donnell, 2001), Pheidole dentata (Mayr) (Wilson, 1976), Trachymyrmex septentrionalis (Wheeler) (Beshers & Traniello, 1996) and Agelaia pallipes (Olivier) (Nascimento et al, 2005), all species that are considered more derived within
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