DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Vibrational Behavior in the Social Wasps with an Emphasis on Antennal Drumming in Polistes (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

University Of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI

Investigators

Abstract

Vibrational behavior in the social wasps with an emphasis on antennal drumming in Polistes (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) Proposal # IOS-0709869 PI: Dr. Robert L. Jeanne; CO-PI: Sainath Suryanarayanan The purpose of the dissertation research is to elucidate the function(s) of vibrational signals associated with brood feeding in a wasp. The proposed research will experimentally test the vibrational stress hypothesis according to which, high rates of vibrations induce developmental changes in the brood, causing them to emerge as adults with worker-like traits, whereas low rates of vibrations cause brood to develop with potential-queen-like traits. Polistes is the only wasp group in which vibrational signals have been studied in some detail and offers itself as a promising experimental system. Antennal drumming (AD) is a behavior in which queens rapidly beat their antennae synchronously on the rims of the nest cells. Thirty colonies initiated in the lab will be divided into three treatments: i) those that receive reverse AD signals from a coupled electro-mechanical device, ii) those that receive a random signal, and iii) undisturbed controls. Fat stores and juvenile hormone levels of newly emerged adults will be measured to indicate their behavioral caste: potential queens show high levels of both and workers show low levels. The idea of mechanical stress as a regulator of caste switching is novel and results from this study could have far reaching implications for our understanding of caste development in animal societies. Undergraduate students are participating and will take further part in the research proposed. Results from the proposed research will be used to design instructional material for an Insect Behavior course.