Social wasps are well-known for aggressively defending their nests when these are approached, threatened, or directly attacked. However, the variability, consistency, and the determinants of such defensive and aggressive responses of wasp colonies are largely unknown. Here, we quantify the aggressiveness of Vespula vulgaris and V. germanica wasp colonies to determine if colonies exhibit consistent differences in aggression across different spans of time and disturbance contexts, and if colony-level aggression is linked to intrinsic and/or extrinsic parameters that seem to predict the aggressive response of other social insects. We conducted three experiments in locations throughout the South Island of New Zealand, where we quantified foraging activity, as well as unprovoked, and provoked (post-disturbance) colony aggression across short (one day), moderate (one week), and long (one month) spans of time. We also estimated the colony investment into nest size and pupae, as well as the temperature near the nest entrance, to determine if these intrinsic and extrinsic parameters could predict colony-level defensive response to a simulated predator attack. We found that, across all three durations of time, some wasp colonies are consistently aggressive, while other colonies exhibit little to no aggressive response to disturbance. We show that colony aggression levels are consistent across contexts over moderate and long spans of time, and that the intensity of colony response is consistent under different types of nest disturbance. The aggressive response of wasp colonies could not be predicted by activity level, temperature, or investment into nest or pupae. The existence of consistent differences in wasp colony aggression suggests that both aggressive and non-aggressive behavioral types can have fitness benefits in a population. Aggressive colonies might defend their nests more effectively, deterring potential predators better than docile colonies. On the other end, less aggressive colonies could go unnoticed by humans and develop undisturbed. Our study further suggests that different mechanisms could underlie the evolution of a wide spectrum of aggressive colony phenotypes in the eusocial Hymenoptera.

中文翻译：

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随着时间的推移和跨环境，黄蜂黄蜂在群体水平的侵略性方面表现出一致的差异

众所周知，社交黄蜂在接近、威胁或直接攻击它们的巢穴时会积极捍卫它们的巢穴。然而，黄蜂群体的这种防御性和攻击性反应的可变性、一致性和决定因素在很大程度上是未知的。在这里，我们量化了 Vespula vulgaris 和 V. Germanica 黄蜂群落的侵略性，以确定群落是否在不同时间跨度和干扰背景下表现出一致的侵略性差异，以及群落级侵略性是否与内在和/或外在参数有关预测其他社会昆虫的攻击性反应。我们在新西兰南岛的各个地点进行了三个实验，在那里我们量化了觅食活动，以及在短期（一天）内无端和挑起（扰乱后）的殖民地侵略，中等（一周）和长（一个月）的时间跨度。我们还估计了对巢穴大小和蛹的群体投资，以及巢穴入口附近的温度，以确定这些内在和外在参数是否可以预测群体对模拟捕食者攻击的防御反应。我们发现，在所有三个时间段内，一些黄蜂群体始终具有攻击性，而其他群体对干扰几乎没有表现出攻击性反应。我们表明，在中等和较长的时间跨度内，群体攻击水平在不同环境中是一致的，并且群体反应的强度在不同类型的巢穴干扰下是一致的。蜂群的攻击性反应无法通过活动水平、温度或对巢或蛹的投入来预测。黄蜂群体攻击性存在一致差异表明攻击性和非攻击性行为类型都可以在种群中带来健康益处。侵略性的殖民地可能会更有效地保护他们的巢穴，比温顺的殖民地更好地阻止潜在的掠食者。另一方面，攻击性较小的殖民地可能会被人类忽视并不受干扰地发展。我们的研究进一步表明，不同的机制可能是真社会膜翅目中广泛的攻击性菌落表型进化的基础。攻击性较小的殖民地可能会被人类忽视并不受干扰地发展。我们的研究进一步表明，不同的机制可能是真社会膜翅目中广泛的攻击性菌落表型进化的基础。攻击性较小的殖民地可能会被人类忽视并不受干扰地发展。我们的研究进一步表明，不同的机制可能是真社会膜翅目中广泛的攻击性菌落表型进化的基础。