Meeting Abstract
Polistine paper wasps have long been a model system for studying the evolutionary origins and maintenance of eusociality because they are primitively eusocial and relatively easy to study. Many different explanations have been proposed for the reproductive division of labor in eusocial organisms, but one of the common explanations is reproductive skew models. These models have been largely developed and tested in Polistes, but recent tests have found them to be poor predictors of reproductive division of labor in that system. In this research, we suggest that the high energetic cost of solitary founding may play a role in the acceptance of a subordinate role. Energy is known to be limiting for early nests in Polistes. We created an energy budget for each role and found that being a solitary foundress is very energetically costly, relative to other foundress roles. Since subordinate foundresses generally start with lower fat stores, this could substantially decrease her success founding alone. If a subordinate foundress would have lower success founding alone, she may not require as high a level of fitness in the subordinate role in order to benefit from adopting that role.
