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Dominance Hierarchy, Ovarian Activity and Cuticular Hydrocarbons in the Primitively Eusocial Wasp Mischocyttarus cerberus (Vespidae, Polistinae, Mischocyttarini)

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Abstract

The dominance hierarchy in primitively eusocial insect societies has been shown to be mainly regulated through aggressive interactions. Females that are generally more dominant stand out and occupy the queen position, meaning that they monopolize reproduction while others perform other tasks. Chemical communication is important for maintaining social cohesion. Cuticular hydrocarbons are recognized as the main molecules responsible for mediating social interactions, especially nestmate recognition and queen signalling. Many highly eusocial groups have been studied in recent years, but primitively eusocial groups, which are key to understanding the evolution of social behavior, remain unexplored. In this study, we investigated the connection between cuticular hydrocarbons in females expressed in different social contexts in the primitively eusocial wasp Mischocyttarus cerberus. Colonies in two different ontogenetic phases, pre- and post-worker emergence, were used. We observed and categorized behavioral interactions between individual females and collected all individuals in a nest to obtain information on size, ovary activation and chemical composition. Furthermore, we conducted experiments in which the alpha (dominant) females were removed from nests to produce a new dominance hierarchy. We found that females in different hierarchical positions had small chemical difference corresponding with ovary activity. Our results support the hypothesis that cuticular hydrocarbons are associated with social context in this primitively eusocial species, with some compounds being associated with hierarchical position and ovarian activity.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions on earlier versions of this manuscript. This study was financed by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, Brasil (CAPES) Finance Code 001 and grant to RCS 2018/22461-3 and APS proc. n° 2016/11887-4 São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP). Additional funding was provided from a bilateral grant FWO-FAPESP to CAO and FSN (process: 2018/10996-0 FAPESP and FWO: GOF8319N), Research Foundation Flanders to CAO (postdoctoral fellowship FWO-12V6318N and international mobility grant FWO V449117N), and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico to APS under grant 142285/2018-8.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de São Paulo – USP, Avenida Bandeirantes, 3900 – Vila Monte Alegre, Ribeirão Preto, SP, 14040-900, Brazil

    Rafael Carvalho da Silva, Amanda Prato & Fabio Santos Do Nascimento

  2. Laboratory of Socioecology and Social Evolution, KU Leuven – University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Cintia Akemi Oi

  3. Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Departamento de Ciências BioMoleculares, Universidade de São Paulo – USP, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil

    Izabel Cristina Casanova Turatti

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  1. Rafael Carvalho da Silva
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  4. Izabel Cristina Casanova Turatti
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Correspondence to Rafael Carvalho da Silva.

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da Silva, R.C., Prato, A., Oi, C.A. et al. Dominance Hierarchy, Ovarian Activity and Cuticular Hydrocarbons in the Primitively Eusocial Wasp Mischocyttarus cerberus (Vespidae, Polistinae, Mischocyttarini). J Chem Ecol 46, 835–844 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-020-01206-1

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