Genetic effects on task performance,but not on age polyethism,in a swarm-founding eusocial wasp |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Malaysia;2. Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Federal University Lokoja, 1154 Lokoja, Nigeria;3. Centre for Advanced Modelling and Geospatial Information Systems (CAMGIS), Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology Sydney, NSW, Australia;4. Department of Energy and Mineral Resources Engineering, Choongmu-gwan, Sejong University, 209 Neungdong-ro Gwangjin-gu, Seoul 05006, Republic of Korea;1. Department of Developmental Disorders, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry (NCNP), 4-1-1, Ogawahigashi, Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan;2. Department of Special Needs Education, Tokyo Gakugei University, 4-1-1, Nukuikitamachi, Koganei, Tokyo, Japan;3. Faculty of Education, Tokoha University, 1-22-1, Sena, Aoi, Shizuoka, Japan;1. Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Toronto, ON, Canada;2. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada;3. Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada;1. Departamento de Engenharia Agronômica, and Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, São Cristóvão, Sergipe 49100-000, Brazil;2. Departamento de Entomologia, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais 36570-900, Brazil;1. Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, & Behaviour, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada;2. School of Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong, Northfields Avenue, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia;3. Department of Biology, McGill University, 1205 Avenue Docteur Penfield, Montreal, QC, H3A 1B1, Canada;1. Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia;2. Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia;3. Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 2JQ, United Kingdom |
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| Abstract: | Division of labour among workers in insect societies often includes two major components: age-related changes in behaviour (age polyethism) and specialization in task performance. The aim of this study was to test whether similarity in inside-nest task performance and in rate of age polyethism correspond to genetic similarity among nestmates in the polygynous eusocial waspPolybia aequatorialis.Behavioural data were collected on marked, known-age workers from three source colonies introduced into two observation colonies in the field. Genetic similarity among workers was assessed by quantifying sharing of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) marker alleles. Workers were categorized by whether they engaged in nest cleaning as an indicator of individual differences in inside-nest task performance. Within source colonies, workers that performed nest-cleaning tasks were more genetically similar to each other than they were to workers not performing these tasks. Workers also differed in their rates of passage through the age-related task sequence, but no association was found between sharing of RAPD marker alleles and rate of age polyethism. These results accord with earlier studies demonstrating flexibility in age polyethism in swarm-founding wasps, and with findings that worker genotypic variability corresponds to specialization in task performance inP. aequatorialis. Polybiaspp. workers rarely switch among tasks, even in response to changes in colony conditions, and workers’ genotypes may constrain flexibility in task performance at the individual level. Conversely, colonies may accrue benefits from having genotypically diverse worker forces, which could favour the maintenance of polygyny in swarm-founding wasps. |
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