Species and colony components in the recognition odor of young social wasps: their expression and learning (Polistes biglumis and P. atrimandibularis; Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

In Polistes, nestmate recognition relies on the learning of recognition cues from the nest. When wasps recognize nestmates, they match the template learned with the odor of the encountered wasp. The social wasp Polistes biglumis use the homogeneous odor of their colony to recognize nestmates. When t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of insect behavior 1999-03, Vol.12 (2), p.147-158
Main Authors: Lorenzi, M.C, Cometto, I, Marshisio, G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
animal behavior
Animal ethology
Biological and medical sciences
colonies
Colonies & territories
Conspecifics
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
host-parasite relationships
learning
nest odor
nestmate recognition
nests
Odors
Offspring
Parasites
parasitism
Polistes
polistes atrimandibularis
Polistes biglumis
Protozoa. Invertebrata
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
social insects
social parasitism
species recognition
Vespidae
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Summary:In Polistes, nestmate recognition relies on the learning of recognition cues from the nest. When wasps recognize nestmates, they match the template learned with the odor of the encountered wasp. The social wasp Polistes biglumis use the homogeneous odor of their colony to recognize nestmates. When these colonies become host colonies of the social parasite P. atrimandibularis, colony odor is no longer homogeneous, as the parasite offspring have an odor that differs from that of their hosts. In trying to understand how the mechanism of nestmate recognition works in parasitized colonies and why parasite offspring are accepted by hosts, we tested the responses of resident Polistes biglumis wasps from parasitized and unparasitized colonies to newly emerged parasites and to nestmate and non-nestmate conspecifics. The experiments indicate that immediately upon eclosion both young parasites and young hosts lack a colony odor and that colony odor can be soon acquired from the accepting colony. In addition, while residents of nonparasitized colonies recognize only the odor of their species, resident hosts of parasitized colonies have learned a template that fits the odors of two species. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:0892-7553
1572-8889
DOI:10.1023/A:1020906631121