Reproductive constraints, direct fitness and indirect fitness benefits explain helping behaviour in the primitively eusocial wasp, Polistes canadensis.

Proceedings. Biological Sciences
Seirian SumnerDaniele Fanelli

Abstract

A key step in the evolution of sociality is the abandonment of independent breeding in favour of helping. In cooperatively breeding vertebrates and primitively eusocial insects, helpers are capable of leaving the group and reproducing independently, and yet many do not. A fundamental question therefore is why do helpers help? Helping behaviour may be explained by constraints on independent reproduction and/or benefits to individuals from helping. Here, we examine simultaneously the reproductive constraints and fitness benefits underlying helping behaviour in a primitively eusocial paper wasp. We gave 31 helpers the opportunity to become egg-layers on their natal nests by removing nestmates. This allowed us to determine whether helpers are reproductively constrained in any way. We found that age strongly influenced whether an ex-helper could become an egg-layer, such that young ex-helpers could become egg-layers while old ex-helpers were less able. These differential reproductive constraints enabled us to make predictions about the behaviours of ex-helpers, depending on the relative importance of direct and indirect fitness benefits. We found little evidence that indirect fitness benefits explain helping behaviour, as 71 per cen...Continue Reading

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Citations

Nov 5, 2010·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Richard J Gill, Robert L Hammond
Oct 21, 2015·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Solenn PatalanoSeirian Sumner
Sep 13, 2013·Journal of Evolutionary Biology·E A Tibbetts, A Injaian
Jul 6, 2014·Trends in Ecology & Evolution·Sjouke A KingmaJan Komdeur
Oct 11, 2016·Current Opinion in Insect Science·Amy L TothRobert L Jeanne
Oct 6, 2017·Journal of Evolutionary Biology·J R Dillard, T A Maigret
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Feb 14, 2018·Biology Letters·Anindita BrahmaRaghavendra Gadagkar
Jun 21, 2018·Molecular Biology and Evolution·Patrick K PiekarskiBarbara J Sharanowski
Feb 17, 2021·Nature Ecology & Evolution·P KennedyA N Radford
May 6, 2021·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Thibault LengronneSeirian Sumner

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