Antecedents of behavioural and reproductive dominance in pairs of the primitively eusocial wasp Ropalidia marginata

Bang, Alok (2019) Antecedents of behavioural and reproductive dominance in pairs of the primitively eusocial wasp Ropalidia marginata. [Publications (Pre-joining)]

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Abstract

What factors predispose some individuals to become reproductively dominant in a group where every member can reproduce? Antecedents of reproductive dominance have often been investigated in primitively eusocial species where reproductive skew exists despite adult reproductive potential displayed by every group-member, but such studies have rarely focused on small, incipient colonies. Here, I investigated antecedents of behavioural and reproductive dominance in pairs of the Indian paper wasp Ropalidia marginata. Common antecedents of behavioural dominance such as body size and age were inoperative in pairs of R. marginata. Moreover, age and behavioural dominance, but not body size, influenced reproductive dominance in pairs. These findings are not only different from other primitively eusocial insects, but also different from the colonies of R. marginata. It is likely that antecedents of reproductive dominance are different not only in different species, but also change with group size within a species, such that the role of behavioural dominance to achieve reproductive monopoly remains more effective in small groups such as pairs, and becomes less effective as the group size increases. These results require further investigations into the effect of group size on individual behaviour in group-living animals.

Item Type:	Publications (Pre-joining)
Authors:	Bang, Alok
Document Language:	Language English (Full Issue)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Aggression, Agonism, Eusociality, Social behaviour, Sociobiology
Subjects:	Natural Sciences > Life sciences; biology > Ecology
Divisions:	Azim Premji University - Bhopal > Arts and Sciences
Full Text Status:	None
Related URLs:	DOI
URI:	http://publications.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/id/eprint/5930
Publisher URL:	https://www.sciencedirect.com

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