Per-capita productivity in a social wasp: no evidence for a negative effect of colony size |
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Authors: | A M Bouwma E V Nordheim R L Jeanne |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, 53706, U.S.A.;(2) Departments of Statistics and of Forest Ecology and Management, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, 53706, U.S.A.;(3) Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida, P.O. Box 110620, Bldg. 970, Natural Area Drive, Gainesville, FL, 32611, U.S.A. |
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Abstract: | Optimal colony size in eusocial insects likely reflects a balance between ecological factors and factors intrinsic to the
social group. In a seminal paper Michener (1964) showed for some species of social Hymenoptera that colony production of immature
stages (productivity), when transformed to a per-female basis, was inversely related to colony size. He concluded that social
patterns exist in the social insects that cause smaller groups to be more efficient than larger groups. This result has come
to be known as “Michener’s paradox” because it suggests that selection on efficiency would oppose the evolution of the large
and complex societies that are common in the social insects. Michener suggested that large colony size has other advantages,
such as improved defense and homeostasis, that are favored by selection. For his analysis of swarm-founding wasps, Michener
combined data from colonies of different species and different developmental stages in order to obtain adequate sample sizes;
therefore, his study did not make a strong case that efficiency decreases with increasing colony size (across colonies) in
these wasps. We tested Michener’s hypothesis on the Neotropical swarm-founding wasp Parachartergus fraternus, while controlling for stage of colony development. We found that small colonies were more variable in percapita productivity
relative to larger colonies, but found no evidence for a negative relationship between efficiency and size across colonies.
Received 1 February 2006; revised 5 May 2006; accepted 11 May 2006. |
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Keywords: | Parachartergus fraternus Polistinae social wasps per-capita productivity colony size |
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