Journal article
Brain structure differences between solitary and social wasp species are independent of body size allometry
JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY A-NEUROETHOLOGY SENSORY NEURAL AND BEHAVIORAL PHYSIOLOGY, v 205(6), pp 911-916
01 Dec 2019
PMID: 31705196
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Evolutionary transitions in social behavior are often associated with changes in species' brain architecture. A recent comparative analysis showed that the structure of brains of wasps in the family Vespidae differed between solitary and social species: the mushroom bodies, a major integrative brain region, were larger relative to brain size in the solitary species. However, the earlier study did not account for body size effects, and species' relative mushroom body size increases with body size in social Vespidae. Here we extend the previous analysis by measuring the effects of body size variation on brain structure differences between social and solitary vespid wasps. We asked whether total brain volume was greater relative to body size in the solitary species, and whether relative mushroom body size was greater in solitary species, after accounting for body size effects. Both total brain volume and relative mushroom body volume were significantly greater in the solitary species after accounting for body size differences. Therefore, body size allometry did not explain the solitary versus social species differences in brain structure. The evolutionary transition from solitary to social behavior in Vespidae was accompanied by decreases in total brain size and in relative mushroom body size.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- Brain structure differences between solitary and social wasp species are independent of body size allometry
- Creators
- Sean O'Donnell - Drexel UniversitySusan Bulova - Drexel UniversitySara DeLeon - Drexel UniversityMeghan Barrett - Drexel UniversityKatherine Fiocca - Drexel University
- Publication Details
- JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY A-NEUROETHOLOGY SENSORY NEURAL AND BEHAVIORAL PHYSIOLOGY, v 205(6), pp 911-916
- Publisher
- Springer Nature
- Number of pages
- 6
- Grant note
- College of Arts and Sciences of Drexel University Wistar Morris grant 1209072 / NSF; National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science (BEES); Biology
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000495191100001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85075013231
- Other Identifier
- 991019167854404721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Collaboration types
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Behavioral Sciences
- Neurosciences
- Physiology
- Zoology