Weak nestmate discrimination behavior in native and invasive populations of a yellowjacket wasp (Vespula pensylvanica)
Weak nestmate discrimination behavior in native and invasive populations of a yellowjacket wasp (Vespula pensylvanica)
复制标题
DOI：
10.1007/s10530-018-1783-3
复制
发表时间：
2018-12-01
影响因子：
2.9
通讯作者：
Rankin, Erin E. Wilson
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Loope, Kevin J.;Millar, Jocelyn G.;Rankin, Erin E. Wilson
在温暖冬季的地理区域，入侵的黄蜂群体(大黄蜂属)经常表现出一夫多妻制(多女王)并持续数年，尽管这些现象在本地范围内很少见。在这里，我们测试了一种假设，即由于外来女王被现有的蚁群接受而导致的一夫多妻制，是入侵范围内放松的筑巢伴侣识别的结果，就像在一些超殖民入侵蚂蚁中观察到的那样。在野外野生蜂群的生物测定中，我们发现入侵种群(夏威夷)和原生种群(加州)的筑巢歧视都很弱，只有30%的试验显示出显著的筑巢歧视。我们还发现，与几个超殖民入侵蚂蚁物种不同，在引入的种群中，角质层碳氢化合物的多样性和可变性并没有减少，角质层碳氢化合物是介导筑巢识别的化合物。我们的发现表明，美洲斑潜蝇的祖先弱巢友歧视行为可能会使该物种预先适应向一夫多妻制的过渡，并在被引入温和冬季的环境中延长群体寿命，这有利于外国女王在晚季加入现有的群体。
In geographic regions with warm winters, invasive yellowjacket wasp colonies (genus Vespula) often exhibit polygyny (multiple queens) and persist for multiple years, despite these phenomena being rare in the native range. Here, we test the hypothesis that polygyny, caused by foreign queens being accepted into an existing colony, is the result of relaxed nestmate recognition in the invasive range, as has been observed in some supercolonial invasive ants. In bioassays with wild colonies in the field, we found that nestmate discrimination was weak in both invasive (Hawaii) and native (California) populations of Vespula pensylvanica, with significant nestmate discrimination in only 30% of trials. We also found that the diversity and variability of cuticular hydrocarbons, chemical compounds that mediate nestmate recognition, were not reduced in introduced populations, unlike several supercolonial invasive ant species. Our findings suggest that ancestral weak nestmate discrimination behavior of V. pensylvanica may make this species pre-adapted to transition to polygyny and extended colony lifespans when introduced into environments with benign winters that facilitate foreign queens joining existing colonies in late season.