PECASE: Toward a Unified Theory of Social Evolution: Reproductive Skew and Aggression in Social Wasps

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Increasing complexity is a central theme of evolution. The most recent step in this trajectory is the transition from solitary to social life. This transition resulted in enormous consequences; it can be said that nearly all land ecosystems are dominated by social species. It is of great importance, then, to understand how sociality evolved. Historically there have been two bodies of theory that apply; one deals with the evolution of sociality within kin groups and the other with sociality among nonrelatives. The "reproductive skew" theory addressed in this research has the potential to provide a general theory of social evolution that is relevant in both situations. Skew theory holds that a dominant individual within a society must provide incentives to subordinate individuals in order to secure their cooperation and assistance. Ecological factors combined with the genetic similarity among individuals dictate the payoffs for cooperation and therefore define the optimal "reproductive skew" (the degree to which one or a few individuals co-opt direct (production). This research will continue the development of the theory and test it with an ideal study species, a social wasp, Polistes fuscatus. Investigations of the social wasp in nature will measure the ecological and genetic similarity factors, along with observation of reproductive skew to determine if there is a quantitative agreement with the predictions of optimal skew theory. This project also involves a large educational component designed to provide tomorrow''s behavioral scientists with both theoretical and empirical skills. In addition, a major new Web site will be created to better enable students to communicate with theorists and empirical behavioral biologists. The study of sociality using insect models has provided pivotal contributions to the field, including kin-selection theory. Kin-selection theory changed the way we think about social animals, solved a dilemma that had existed since Darwin''s time and changed the way that some anthropologists think about human sociality. This research has the potential to develop an even more general theory of how social behavior evolved and holds considerable promise for broad application.