Journal article
Social Network Analysis of Male Dominance in the Paper Wasp Mischocyttarus mastigophorus (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)
Journal of insect behavior, v 34(3), pp 106-113
01 May 2021
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Social aggression is a pervasive feature of insect societies. In eusocial Hymenoptera, aggression among females can affect task performance and competition over direct reproduction (egg laying); in most species males participate in social interactions relatively rarely. Males of the independent-founding paper wasp Mischocyttarus mastigophorus are exceptional: they are aggressive toward female nestmates, leading us to explore the function of this unusual behavior. We applied social network analyses to data on M. mastigophorus social aggression to quantify sex differences in giving and receiving social aggression. The network analyses supported the pattern of biased male aggression toward female nestmates; females are relatively rarely aggressive to males. We then asked whether male aggression toward females was biased by females' relative ovary development. Males were more aggressive toward females with better-developed ovaries, opposite to patterns of aggression among females. Because food brought to the colonies is often monopolized by dominant females, we suggest that males direct aggression toward socially dominant females with better-developed ovaries to obtain food. The implications of biased male aggression for female task performance and physiology are unknown.
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Details
- Title
- Social Network Analysis of Male Dominance in the Paper Wasp Mischocyttarus mastigophorus (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)
- Creators
- Sean O'Donnell - Drexel UniversityKatherine Fiocca - Drexel UniversityRheanna Congdon - Drexel University
- Publication Details
- Journal of insect behavior, v 34(3), pp 106-113
- Publisher
- Springer Nature
- Number of pages
- 8
- Grant note
- University of Washington Royalty Research Fund; University of Washington
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science (BEES); Biology
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000650652800001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85105707414
- Other Identifier
- 991019168006504721
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- Web of Science research areas
- Entomology