The Look Of Royalty: Visual And Odour Signals Of Reproductive Status In A Paper Wasp

Main Category: Biology / Biochemistry
Also Included In: Veterinary
Article Date: 06 Aug 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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Animals living in societies should present some degree of organization based on behavioural interactions and kinship among group members. In some social insects, reproductive conflicts occur because all females can potentially lay eggs, but several biological mechanisms regulate worker reproduction.

The presence of signals providing direct information about the quality of females would help nestmates to avoid behavioural conflicts. In this study we showed in a paper wasp the association between visual and chemical signalling.

In founding phase colonies, dominant females presented brown face colour (visual) and a specific chemical profile (odour). Experiments showed that nestmates reject those females with this visual pattern altered.

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Proceedings B is the Royal Society's flagship biological research journal, dedicated to the rapid publication and broad dissemination of high-quality research papers, reviews and comment and reply papers. The scope of journal is diverse and is especially strong in organismal biology.

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences