Sexy faces in a male paper wasp

Sexually selected signals are common in many animals, though little reported in social insects. We investigated the occurrence of male visual signals mediating the dominance relationships among males and female choice of sexual partner in the paper wasp Polistes simillimus. Males have three conspicu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2014-05, Vol.9 (5), p.e98172-e98172
Main Authors: de Souza, André Rodrigues, Alberto Mourão Júnior, Carlos, do Nascimento, Fabio Santos, Lino-Neto, José
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abdomen
Animal behavior
Animal Communication
Animal reproduction
Animals
Biology and Life Sciences
Body Size
Coloration
Competition
Dominance
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Female
Females
Head
Hydrocarbons
Hymenoptera
Insects
Laboratories
Male
Males
Pigmentation
Polistes
Polistes dominulus
Research and Analysis Methods
Sex Characteristics
Sexual Behavior, Animal
Sexual dimorphism
Sexual partners
Sexual selection
Social Behavior
Vespidae
Visual communication
Visual signals
Wasps
Wasps - anatomy & histology
Wasps - physiology
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Summary:Sexually selected signals are common in many animals, though little reported in social insects. We investigated the occurrence of male visual signals mediating the dominance relationships among males and female choice of sexual partner in the paper wasp Polistes simillimus. Males have three conspicuous, variable and sexually dimorphic traits: black pigmentation on the head, a pair of yellow abdominal spots and body size differences. By conducting behavioral assays, we found that none of the three visual traits are associated with male-male dominance relationship. However, males with higher proportion of black facial pigmentation and bigger yellow abdominal spots are more likely chosen as sexual partners. Also, after experimentally manipulating the proportion of black pigment on males' face, we found that females may evaluate male facial coloration during the choice of a sexual partner. Thus, the black pigmentation on P. simillimus male's head appears to play a role as a sexually selected visual signal. We suggest that sexual selection is a common force in Polistes and we highlight the importance of this group as a model for the study of visual communication in insects.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0098172