Social evolution in South American polistine wasps

(1)“群体成员间遗传亲缘关系的估计”为了从群体成员间的遗传亲缘关系来分析社会系统，在Ribeirao Preto及其周围采集了15个不同发育阶段的群体。由于有可能多只蜂王通过在不同的梳子上占据自己的领地而真正发挥作用，所以幼蜂和成年黄蜂分别从每个梳子中取出。为了应用DNA微卫星方法，土田及其同事正在准备有效的引物。(2)“形态种姓分化”社会制度的发育程度可能反映在蜂王和工蚁之间的形态差异上。我们比较了不同群居黄蜂之间的这种差异，特别是在南美大陆明显分化的小蜂亚科。为了增加更多的数据，Yamane和他的同事分析了两种紫菜，P.occiden…更多的塔里斯和P.Paulista，通过多变量分析，可以估计种姓之间的距离。西天小蜂的研究结果已提交《昆虫学》。(3)群蜂蜂巢的化学成分分析表明，群蜂蜂巢具有饲养幼虫的功能。为了阐明他们的建筑和建造技术，Kudo(合作研究员)和Yamane分析了Polybia Paulista巢穴的化学成分。黄蜂为粘合外来物质而分泌的口腔分泌物含有24种氨基酸，其中以结构氨基酸--脯氨酸、丝氨酸、甘氨酸和丙氨酸为主(占总量的10%)。将这些特征与其他物种进行了比较，以讨论其生物学和系统发育意义。(4)基于目前的结果和迄今已发表的工作，Ito发展了一个解释Polistinae多女王社会系统进化的综合模型。对这一问题给出了初步的注记。较少

The followings were studied during 1998 and 1999.(1) "Estimation of genetic relatedness among colony members" To analyze the social system from genetic relatedness among colony members, Polybia paulista was chosen and 15 colonies at various developmental stages were collected in and around Ribeirao Preto. Since there was a possibility that multiple queens were really functioning by occupying their own territories at different combs, immatures were taken from each comb separately as well as adult wasps. To apply a DNA micro-satellite method, effective primer sets are being prepared by Tsuchida and co-workers.(2) "Morphological caste differentiation" The developmental degree of social system may be reflected to morphological differences between queens and workers. We have compared such differences among various social wasps, especially Polistinae that have remarkably diverged in the South American Continent. To add more data, Yamane and co-workers analyzed two Polybia species, P. occiden … More talis and P. paulista, by a multi-variate analysis with which the inter-caste distances can be estimated. The result for P. occidentalis has been submitted to "Entomological Science".(3) "Composition of chemical components in the material of polistine nests" Social wasp nests have a function for rearing immature stages. To clarify their architecture and construction technology, Kudo (cooperative researcher) and Yamane have analyzed the chemical components of Polybia paulista nests. The oral secretion, secreted by wasps to glue extraneous materials, of P. paulista contained 24 amino acids, among which Proline (structural amino acid), Serine, Glycine and Alanine were predominant (>10% in quantity). Such characteristics were compared with other species for discussing its biological and phylogenetic significances.(4) "Theoretical consideration of the evolution of multi-queen social system in the Polistinae" Based on the present results and so far published work, Ito has developed a comprehensive model for explaining the evolution of multi-queen social system in the Polistinae. A preliminary note for this problem is presented. Less