Dominance Hierarchy, Ovarian Activity and Cuticular Hydrocarbons in the Primitively Eusocial WaspMischocyttarus cerberus(Vespidae, Polistinae, Mischocyttarini)

Autor(es)

da Silva, Rafael Carvalho ^[1] ; Prato, Amanda ^[1] ; Oi, Cintia Akemi ^[2] ; Turatti, Izabel Cristina Casanova ^[3] ; Do Nascimento, Fabio Santos ^[1]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Filosofia Ciencias & Letras Ribeirao Preto, Dept Biol, Ave Bandeirantes, 3900 Vila Monte Alegre, BR-14040900 Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Leuven, KU Leuven, Lab Socioecol & Social Evolut, Leuven - Belgium

^[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Ciencias Farmaceut Ribeirao Preto, Dept Ciencias BioMol, Ribeirao Preto, SP - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: Journal of Chemical Ecology; v. 46, n. 9, p. 835-844, SEP 2020.
• Citações Web of Science: 2

Resumo

The dominance hierarchy in primitively eusocial insect societies has been shown to be mainly regulated through aggressive interactions. Females that are generally more dominant stand out and occupy the queen position, meaning that they monopolize reproduction while others perform other tasks. Chemical communication is important for maintaining social cohesion. Cuticular hydrocarbons are recognized as the main molecules responsible for mediating social interactions, especially nestmate recognition and queen signalling. Many highly eusocial groups have been studied in recent years, but primitively eusocial groups, which are key to understanding the evolution of social behavior, remain unexplored. In this study, we investigated the connection between cuticular hydrocarbons in females expressed in different social contexts in the primitively eusocial waspMischocyttarus cerberus. Colonies in two different ontogenetic phases, pre- and post-worker emergence, were used. We observed and categorized behavioral interactions between individual females and collected all individuals in a nest to obtain information on size, ovary activation and chemical composition. Furthermore, we conducted experiments in which the alpha (dominant) females were removed from nests to produce a new dominance hierarchy. We found that females in different hierarchical positions had small chemical difference corresponding with ovary activity. Our results support the hypothesis that cuticular hydrocarbons are associated with social context in this primitively eusocial species, with some compounds being associated with hierarchical position and ovarian activity. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 18/22461-3 - A busca pelo elo perdido: Os ovos atuam como veículo alternativo de comunicação em sistemas sociais?
• Beneficiário: Rafael Carvalho da Silva
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 18/10996-0 - Evo-Devo perspectiva sobre a divisão reprodutiva do trabalho em vespas
• Beneficiário: Fábio Santos do Nascimento
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular
• Processo FAPESP: 16/11887-4 - Variação dos hidrocarbonetos cuticulares e produtos de glândulas exócrinas em operárias de Polybia occidentalis (Hymenoptera: Vespidae, Epiponini)
• Beneficiário: Amanda Prato da Silva
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Mestrado