Queen Regulation of Worker Foraging in Paper Wasps: a Social Feedback Control System (Polistes Fuscatus, Hymenoptera: Vespidae)
- 1 January 1987
- Vol. 102 (3-4), 147-167
- https://doi.org/10.1163/156853986x00090
Abstract
We examined the queen's role in regulation of worker foraging in small field colonies of the primitively eusocial wasp, Polistes fuscatus (29 colonies; 148 h observation). Queen removal results in a significant reduction in worker departure rate. The placement of a cooled, inactive queen into her queenless nest produces a significantly greater reduction in worker departure rate than does queen removal, and the resumption of activity by an inactive queen causes a significant increase in worker departure rate. Removal or cooling of a single worker does not produce similar effects on worker foraging, suggesting that the queen is the central regulator of worker foraging in small P. fuscatus colonies. We present evidence that: (1) the queen's control of worker foraging is mediated primarily by her influence on worker nest activity, (2) queen aggression may be important in stimulating departures by workers with low tendencies to leave the nest (i.e., dominant workers), and (3) the magnitude of the queen's stimulatory influence on worker foraging is directly related to the number of workers on the nest. We integrate these results with evidence from our other studies of polistine colony dynamics in a feedback control model of the social regulation of foraging. We examined the queen's role in regulation of worker foraging in small field colonies of the primitively eusocial wasp, Polistes fuscatus (29 colonies; 148 h observation). Queen removal results in a significant reduction in worker departure rate. The placement of a cooled, inactive queen into her queenless nest produces a significantly greater reduction in worker departure rate than does queen removal, and the resumption of activity by an inactive queen causes a significant increase in worker departure rate. Removal or cooling of a single worker does not produce similar effects on worker foraging, suggesting that the queen is the central regulator of worker foraging in small P. fuscatus colonies. We present evidence that: (1) the queen's control of worker foraging is mediated primarily by her influence on worker nest activity, (2) queen aggression may be important in stimulating departures by workers with low tendencies to leave the nest (i.e., dominant workers), and (3) the magnitude of the queen's stimulatory influence on worker foraging is directly related to the number of workers on the nest. We integrate these results with evidence from our other studies of polistine colony dynamics in a feedback control model of the social regulation of foraging.Keywords
This publication has 7 references indexed in Scilit:
- Gerontocracy in the social wasp, Polistes exclamansAnimal Behaviour, 1983
- Learned component of nestmate discrimination in workers of a social wasp, Polistes fuscatus (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)Animal Behaviour, 1983
- Queen-worker behavior and nesmate interactions in young colonies ofLasioglossum ZephyrumInsectes Sociaux, 1982
- The social regulation of physical caste: the superorganism revivedJournal of Theoretical Biology, 1982
- Division of labor among workers ofPolistes metricus (Hymenoptera: Vespidae): Laboratory foraging activitiesInsectes Sociaux, 1981
- Intracolonial communication by body oscillations in the paper wasp,Polistes metricusInsectes Sociaux, 1981
- Behavioral Control of Workers by Queens in Primitively Eusocial BeesScience, 1977