Unrelated helpers in social wasps

社交黄蜂中的无关帮手

• 批准号: NE/E017894/1
• 负责人: Jeremy Field
• 金额: $ 53.21万
• 依托单位: University of Sussex
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2008 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FE017894%2F1
• 关键词: Unrelated; helpers; social; wasps

The evolution of sociality is one of the major transitions in evolutionary biology. The key testing-grounds for theories concerning the origin of helping are primitively eusocial taxa in which the option of independent reproduction still exists. Social groups of Polistes paper wasps comprise groups of females in which one 'dominant' female lays most or all of the eggs while the others ( 'helpers') forage to feed the dominant's larvae. Yet despite Polistes being the best studied primitively eusocial system, it remains unclear why many females choose to become helpers rather than build their own nests and reproduce independently. Especially paradoxical are populations of P. dominulus, in which >30% of helpers are unrelated to the dominant egg-layer in the group. Unrelated helpers cannot transmit their genes indirectly by rearing offspring of the dominant (kin selection), and so must attempt to obtain direct fitness by laying eggs themselves. The proposed research will use a combination of large-scale field experiments and genetic work to investigate the reproductive strategies of unrelated females in a Spanish population of P. dominulus. The work will: (1) Estimate the reproductive success of unrelated foundresses, focussing particularly on reproduction through inheritance of the egg-laying position, a route that has been strikingly neglected in previous studies of primitively eusocial insects. (2) Separate the effects of kin selection and direct fitness benefits by comparing unrelated helpers with helpers that are sisters of the dominant in terms of: (i) helping effort; (ii) position in the queue to inherit the dominant egg-laying position; (iii) aggression in unmanipulated colonies; (iv) aggression at the critical moment when the dominant is replaced. The overall result will be the most comprehensive evaluation of the basis of helping in a primitively eusocial insect, and the first clear separation of how kin selection and direct fitness benefits influence individual behaviour.

社会性的进化是进化生物学中的一个主要转变。关于帮助起源的理论的关键测试场是独立生殖的选择仍然存在的真社会分类群。胡蜂的社会群体由一群雌性组成，其中一个“占主导地位”的雌性产下大部分或所有的卵，而其他（“助手”）则觅食以喂养占主导地位的幼虫。然而，尽管Polistes是研究最多的真社会系统，但仍不清楚为什么许多女性选择成为帮手，而不是建立自己的巢穴和独立繁殖。特别矛盾的是P. dominulus种群，其中>30%的助手与群体中的优势产卵层无关。没有亲缘关系的辅助者不能通过养育显性个体的后代（近亲选择）来间接地传递它们的基因，因此必须试图通过自己产卵来获得直接的适应性。这项拟议的研究将使用大规模田间实验和遗传工作相结合的方法来研究西班牙P. dominulus种群中无关雌性的生殖策略。这项工作将：（1）估计不相关的foundresses的繁殖成功率，特别关注通过产卵位置的遗传进行繁殖，这是一条在以前的真社会性昆虫研究中被明显忽视的途径。(2)分离亲属选择和直接健身效益的影响，通过比较无关的帮手和帮手的姐妹篇优势方面：（一）帮助的努力;（二）在队列中的位置，继承占主导地位的产卵位置;（三）在未操纵的殖民地的侵略;（四）侵略的关键时刻，当占主导地位的被取代。总体结果将是最全面的评估的基础上，帮助在一个真正的社会性昆虫，并首次明确分离如何亲属选择和直接健身效益影响个人行为。

项目成果

Regulation of host colony activity by the social parasite Polistes semenowi

社会寄生虫马蜂对寄主群体活动的调节

• DOI: 10.1007/s00040-016-0478-y
• 发表时间: 2016
• 期刊: Insectes Sociaux
• 影响因子: 1.3
• 作者: Green J

Unrelated helpers in a primitively eusocial wasp: is helping tailored towards direct fitness?

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0011997
• 发表时间: 2010-08-06
• 期刊: PloS one
• 影响因子: 3.7
• 作者: Leadbeater E;Carruthers JM;Green JP;van Heusden J;Field J
• 通讯作者: Field J

Using social parasitism to test reproductive skew models in a primitively eusocial wasp.

• DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2014.1206
• 发表时间: 2014-08-22
• 期刊: Proceedings. Biological sciences
• 作者: Green JP;Cant MA;Field J
• 通讯作者: Field J