Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Chemical Communication and Reproduction Partitioning in Social Wasps

  • Review Article
  • Published:
Journal of Chemical Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Social wasps encompass species displaying diverse social organization regarding colony cycle, nest foundation, caste differences (from none to significant dimorphism) and number of reproductive queens. Current phylogenetic data suggests that sociality occured independently in the subfamily Stenogastrinae and in the Polistinae+Vespinae clade. In most species, including those with the simplest social organization, colony reproduction is monopolised by a single or few females. Since their nest mates can also develop ovaries and lay eggs, dominant females must somehow inhibit them from reproducing. Physical interactions in the form of open aggression or, usually, ritualised dominance by the fertile females contribute to fertility inhibition in several species, but it is unlikely to function in large colonies. In the latter case, reproduction within the colony is likely to be regulated through pheromones. Relatively little is known about these semiochemicals. Studies on all the three social wasp subfamilies, revealed that cuticular hydrocarbon components differ in abundance between egg-laying and not egg-laying females and that their composition depends on fertility status. In several species, females have been reported to manifestly react towards females with activated ovaries, but there is little evidence to support the hypothesis that fertile individuals are either recognized through their CHC composition, or that over-represented CHC constituents can inhibit fertility. Moreover, very little information exists on the possibility that exocrine glands release fertility signals or chemicals inhibiting fertility.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adams TS, Nelson DR, Blomquist GJ (1995) Effect of endocrine organs and hormones on (Z)-9-tricosene levels in the internal and external in lipids of female house flies, Musca domestica. J Insect Physiol 41:609–615

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Amsalem E, Orlova M, Grozinger CM (2015) A conserved class of queen pheromones? Re-evaluating the evidence in bumblebees (Bombus impatiens). Proc R Soc B 282:20151800

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bank S, Sann M, Mayer C, Meusemann K, Donath A, Podsiadlowski L, Kozlov A, Petersen M, Krogmann L, Meier R, Rosa P, Schmitt T, Wurdack M, Liu S, Xin Z, Misof B, Peters RS, Niehuis O (2017) Transcriptome and target DNA enrichment sequence data provide new insights into the phylogeny of vespid wasps (Hymenoptera: Aculeata: Vespidae). Mol Phylogenet Evol 116:213–226

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bhadra A, Mitra A, Deshpande SA, Chandrasekhar K, Naik DG, Hefetz A, Gadagkar R (2010) Regulation of reproduction in the primitively eusocial wasp Ropalidia marginata: on the trail of the queen pheromone. J Chem Ecol 36:424–431

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Blomquist GJ (2010) Biosynthesis of cuticular hydrocarbons. In: Blomquist GJ, Bagnères AG (eds) Insect hydrocarbons: biology, biochemistry, and chemical ecology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 35–52

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Blomquist GJ, Dillwith JW, Pomonis JG (1984) Sex pheromone of the housefly: metabolism of (Z)-9-tricosene to (Z)-9,10-epxytricosane and (Z)-14-tricosen-10-one. Insect Biochem 3:279–284

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bolton A, Sumner S, Shreeves G, Casiraghi M, Field J (2006) Colony genetic structure in a facultatively eusocial hover wasp. Behav Ecol 17:873–880

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonavita-Cougourdan A, Thereulaz G, Bagnéres AG, Roux M, Pratte M, Provost E, Clement JL (1991) Cuticular hydrocarbons, social organization and ovarian development in a polistinae wasp: Polistes dominulus. Comp Biochem Physiol B 100:667–680

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonckaert W, Van Zweden JS, D’Ettorre P, Billen J, Wenseleer T (2011) Colony stage and not facultative policing explains pattern of worker reproduction in the Saxon wasp. Mol Ecol 20:3455–3468

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brennan B (2007) Abdominal wagging in the social paper wasp Polistes dominulus: behavior and substrate vibrations. Ethology 113:692–702

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruschini C, Cervo R, Turillazzi S (2010) Pheromones in social wasps. In: Gerald L (ed) Pheromones. Academic Press, London, pp 447–492

    Google Scholar 

  • Butts DP, Camann MA, Espelie KE (1995) Workers and queens of the European hornet Vespa crabro L. have colony-specific cuticular hydrocarbon profile (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Comp Biochem Physiol 42:45–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Butts DP, Espelie KE, Hermann HR (1991) Cuticular hydrocarbons of four species of social wasps in the subfamily Vespinae: Vespa crabro L., Dolichovespula maculata (L.), Vespula squamosa (Drury) and Vespula maculifrons (Buysson). Comp Biochem Physiol 99B:87–91

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter JM (1991) Phylogenetic relationships and the origin of social behavior in the Vespidae. In: Ross KG, Matthews RW (eds) The social biology of wasps. Comstock Publishing Associate, Ithaca and London, pp 7–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Cervo R, Dani FR (1996) Social parasitism and its evolution in Polistes. In: Turillazzi S, West-Eberhard MJ (eds). Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 98–112

  • Cervo R, Dani FR, Turillazzi S (2002) Nestmate recognition in three species of stenogastrine wasps (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 39:311–316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cini A, Nieri R, Dapporto L, Monnin T, Cervo R (2014) Almost royal: incomplete suppression of host worker ovarian development by a social parasite wasp. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 68:467–475

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dani FR (2006) Cuticular lipids as semiochemicals in paper wasps and other social insects. Ann Zool Fenn 43:500–514

    Google Scholar 

  • Dani FR, Cervo R, Turillazzi S (1992) Abdomen stroking behaviour and its possible functions in Polistes dominulus (Christ) (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Behav Process 28:51–58

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dani FR, Morgan ED, Turillazzi S (1996) Dufour gland secretion of Polistes wasp: chemical composition and possible involvement in nestmate recognition (Hymenoptera: vespidae). J Insect Physiol 42:541–548

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dapporto L, Cervo R, Sledge MF, Turillazzi S (2004) Rank integration in dominance hierarchies of host colonies by the paper wasp social parasite Polistes sulcifer (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). J Insect Physiol 50:217–223

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dapporto L, Dani FR, Turillazzi S (2007) Social dominance molds cuticular and egg chemical blends in a paper wasp. Curr Biol 17:r504–r505

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Downing HA (1991) A role of the Dufour’s gland in the dominance interactions of the paper wasp, Polistes fuscatus (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). J Insect Behav 4:557–565

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finck J, Berdan EL, Mayer F, Ronacher B, Geiselhardt S (2016) Divergence of cuticular hydrocarbons in two sympatric grasshopper species and the evolution of fatty acid synthases and elongases across insects. Sci Rep 6:33695

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Foster KR, Ratnieks FLW (2001) Convergent evolution of worker policing by egg eating in the honeybee and common wasp. Proc R Soc Lond B 268:169–174

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Foster KR, Ratnieks FLW, Gyllenstrand N, Thoren PA (2001) Colony kin structure and male production in Dolichovespula wasps. Mol Ecol 10:1003–1010

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Foster KR, Ratnieks FLW, Raybould AF (2000) Do hornets have zombie workers? Mol Ecol 9:735–742

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gadagkar R (1991) Belonogaster, Mischocyttarus, Parapolybia, and Indendent-founding Ropalidia. In: Ross KG, Matthews RW (eds) The social biology of wasps. Comstock Publishing Associate, Ithaca, pp 149–190

    Google Scholar 

  • Gadagkar R (1996) The evolution of eusociality, including a review of the social status of Ropalidia marginata. In: Turillazzi S, West-Eberhard MJ (eds). Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 248–271

  • Greene A (1991) Dolichovespula and Vespula. In: Ross KG, Matthews RW (eds) The social biology of wasps. Comstock Publishing Associate, Ithaca, pp 263–305

    Google Scholar 

  • Hines HM, Hunt JH, O'Connor TK, Gillespie JJ, Cameron SA (2007) Multigene phylogeny reveals eusociality evolved twice in vespid wasps. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 104:3295–3299

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Howard RW, Blomquist GJ (2005) Ecological, behavioral, and biochemical aspects of insect hydrocarbons. Annu Rev Entomol 50:371–393

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ikan R, Gottlieb R, Bergmann ED, Ishay J (1969) The pheromone of the queen the oriental hornet, Vespa orientalis. J Insect Physiol 15:1709–1712

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ishay I, Ikan R, Bergmann ED (1965) The presence of pheromones in the oriental hornet, Vespa orientalis F. J Insect Physiol 11:1307–1309

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jandt JM, Tibbetts EA, Toth AL (2014) Polistes paper wasps: a model genus for the study of social dominance hierarchies. Insect Soc 61:11–27

  • Jeanne RL (1991) The swarm-founding Polistinae. In: Ross KG, Matthews RW (eds) The social biology of wasps. Comstock Publishing Associate, Ithaca, pp 191–231

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeanne RL, Suryanarayanan S (2011) A new model for caste development in social wasps. Commun Integr Biol 4:373–377

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kapheim KM (2017) Nutritional, endocrine, and social influences on reproductive physiology at the origins of social behaviour. Curr Opin Insect Sci 22:62–70

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kather R, Martin SJ (2015) Evolution of Cuticular hydrocarbons in the Hymenoptera: a meta-analysis. J Chem Ecol 41:871–883

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Keegans SJ, Morgan ED, Turillazzi S, Jackson BD, Billen J (1993) The Dufour gland and the secretion placed on eggs of two species of social wasps, Liostenogaster flavolineata and Parischnogaster jacobsoni (Vespidae: Stenogastrinae). J Chem Ecol 19:279–290

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kelstrup HC, Hartfelder K, Nascimento FS, Riddiford LM (2014a) Reproductive status, endocrine physiology and chemical signaling in the Neotropical, swarm-founding eusocial wasp Polybia micans. J Exp Biol 217:2399–2410

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kelstrup HC, Hartfelder K, Nascimento FS, Riddiford LM (2014b) The role of juvenile hormone in dominance behavior, reproduction and cuticular pheromone signalling in the caste-flexible epiponine wasp, Synoeca surinama. Front Zool 11:e78

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kelstrup HC, Hartfelder K, Wossler TC (2017) Polistes smithii vs. Polistes dominula: the contrasting endocrinology and epicuticular signalling of sympatric paper wasps in the field. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 69:2043–2058

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krasnec MO, Breed MD (2013) Colony-specific cuticular hydrocarbon profile in Formica argentea ants. J Chem Ecol 39:59–66

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lorenzi MC (2006) The result of an arms race: the chemical strategies of Polistes social parasites. Ann Zool 43:550–563

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin SJ, Drijfhout FP (2009) A review of ant cuticular hydrocarbons. J Chem Ecol 35:1151–1161

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Martin SJ, Vitikainen E, Helanterä H, Drijfhout FP (2008) Chemical basis of nestmate recognition in the ant Formica exsecta. Proc R Soc B 275:1271–1278

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Matsuura (1991) Vespa and Provespa. In: Ross KG, Matthews RW (eds) The social biology of wasps. Comstock Publishing Associate, Ithaca and London, pp 232–262

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitra A, Gadagkar R (2012) Road to royalty-transition of potential queen to queen in the primitively eusocial wasp Ropalidia marginata. Ethology 118:694–702

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitra A, Gadagkar R (2014) The Dufour's gland and the cuticle in the social wasp Ropalidia marginata contain the same hydrocarbons in similar proportions. J Insect Sci:9

  • Mitra A, Saha P, Chaoulideer ME, Bhadra A, Gadagkar R (2011) Chemical communication in Ropalidia marginata: Dufour’s gland contains queen signal that is perceived across colonies and does not contain colony signal. J Insect Physiol 57:280–284

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Noll FB, Wenzel JW (2008) Caste in the swarming wasps: ‘queenless’ societies in highly social insects. Biol J Linn Soc 93:509–522

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noll FB, Wenzel JW, Zucchi R (2004) Evolution of caste in Neotropical swarm-founding wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae; Epiponini). Am Mus Novit 3467:1–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Donnell S (1998) Reproductive caste determination in eusocial wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Annu Rev Entomol 43:323–346

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oi CA, Millar JG, van Zweden JS, Wenseleers T (2016) Conservation of queen pheromones across two species of vespine wasps. J Chem Ecol 42:1175–1180

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Oi CA, Van Oystaeyen A, Oliveira RC, Millar JG, Verstrepen KJ, van Zweden JS, Wenseleers T (2015) Dual effect of wasp queen pheromone in regulating insect sociality. Curr Biol 25:1638–1640

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pardi L (1946) Ricerche sui Polistini VII. La “dominazione” ed il ciclo ovarico annuale di Polistes gallicus (L.). Boll Ist Entomol Univ Bologna 15:25–84

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters RS, Krogmann L, Mayer C, Donath A, Gunkel S, Meusemann K, Kozlov A, Podsiadlowski L, Petersen M, Lanfear R, Diez PA, Heraty J, Kjer KM, Klopfstein S, Meier R, Polidori C, Schmitt T, Liu S, Zhou X, Wappler T, Rust J, Misof B, Niehuis O (2017) Evolutionary history of the Hymenoptera. Curr Biol 27:1013–1018

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pickett KM, Carpenter JM (2010) Simultaneous analysis and the origin of eusociality in the Vespidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera). Arthropod Syst Phylogeny 68:3–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Ratnieks FLW, Visscher PK (1989) Worker policing in the honeybee. Nature 342:796–797

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reeve HK (1991) Polistes. In: Ross KG, Matthews RW (eds) The social biology of wasps. Comstock Publishing Associate, Ithaca, pp 99–148

    Google Scholar 

  • Röseler PF, Röseler I (1989) Dominance of ovarectomized foundresses of the paper wasp, Polistes gallicus. Insect Soc 36:219–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Röseler PF, Röseler I, Strambi A (1985) Role of ovaries and ecdysteroids in dominance hierarchy establishment among foundresses of the primitively social wasp, Polistes gallicus. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 18:9–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Röseler PF, Röseler I, Strambi A, Augier R (1984) Influence of insect hormones on the establishment of dominance among foundresses of the paper wasp, Polistes gallicus. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 15:133–142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samuel CT (1987) Factor affecting colony size in the stenogastrine wasp Liostenogaster flavolineata. University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Ph.D. dissertation

    Google Scholar 

  • Santos EB, Shemilt S, de Carvalho CAL, Martin SJ (2018) Life history and chemical ecology of the warrior wasp Synoeca septentrionalis (Hymenoptera: Vespidae, Epiponini). PLoS One https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0194689

  • Sledge MF, Boscaro F, Turillazzi S (2001a) Cuticular hydrocarbons and reproductive status in the social wasp Polistes dominulus. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 49:401–409

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sledge MF, Dani FR, Cervo R, Dapporto L, Turillazzi S (2001b) Recognition of social parasites as nestmates: adoption of colony-specific host cuticular odours by the paper wasp parasite Polistes sulcifer. Proc R Soc Lond B 268:2253–2260

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Smith AA, Hölldobler B, Liebig J (2009) Cuticular hydrocarbons reliably identify cheaters and allow enforcement of altruism in a social insect. Curr Biol 19:78–81

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Smith AA, Liebig J (2017) The evolution of cuticular fertility signals in eusocial insects. Curr Opin Insect Sci 22:79–84

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Smith AA, Millar JG, Hanks LM, Suarez AV (2012) Experimental evidence that workers recognize reproductive through cuticular hydrocarbons in the ant Odontomachus brunneus. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 66:1267–1276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soroker V, Vienne C, Hefetz A (1995) Hydrocarbon dynamics within and between nestmates in Cataglyphis niger (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). J Chem Ecol 21:365–378

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sumner S, Casiraghi M, Foster W, Field J (2002) High reproductive skew in tropical hover wasps. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 269:179–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tibbetts EA, Dale J (2004) A socially enforced signal of quality in a paper wasp. Nature 432:218–222

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tibbetts EA, Izzo AS (2009) Endocrine mediated phenotypic plasticity: condition-dependent effects of juvenile hormone on dominance and fertility of wasp queens. Horm Behav 56:527–531

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Turillazzi S (1996) Polistes in perspective: comparative social biology and evolution in Belonogaster and Stenogastrinae. In: West-Eberhard MJ (ed) Turillazzi S. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 235–247

    Google Scholar 

  • Turillazzi S (2012) The biology of hover wasps. Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Turillazzi S, Cervo R, Dani FR (1997) Intra and inter-specific relationships in a cluster of stenogastrinae wasp colonies (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Ethol Ecol Evol 9:385–395

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turillazzi S, Pardi L (1977) Body size and hierarchy in polygynic nests of Polistes gallicus (L.) (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Monit Zool Ital (NS) 11:101–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Turillazzi S, Sledge MF, Dani FR, Cervo R, Massolo A, Fondelli L (2000) Social hackers: integration in the host chemical recognition system by a paper wasp social parasite. Naturwissenschaften 87:172–176

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Turillazzi S, Sledge MF, Dapporto L, Landi M, Fanelli D, Fondelli L, Zanetti P, Dani FR (2004) Epicuticular lipids and fertility in primitively social wasps (Hymenoptera Stenogastrinae). Physiol Entomol 29:464–471

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Van Oystaeyen A, Oliveira RC, Holman L, van Zweden JS, Romero C, Oi CA, d'Ettorre P, Khalesi M, Billen J, Wäckers F, Millar JG, Wenseleers T (2014) Conserved class of queen pheromones stops social insect workers from reproducing. Science 343:287–290

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wen P, Cheng Y-N, Dong S-H, Wang Z-W, Tan K, Nieh JC (2017) The sex pheromone of a globally invasive honey bee predator, the Asian eusocial hornet, Vespa velutina. Sci Rep 7:12956

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wenseleers T, Badcock NS, Erven K, Tofilski A, Nascimento FS, Hart AG, Burke TA, Archer ME, Ratnieks FLW (2005) A test of worker policing theory in an advanced eusocial wasp, Vespula rufa. Evolution 59:1306–1314

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • West-Eberhard MJ (1978) Temporary queens in Metapolybia wasps: nonreproductive helpers without altruism? Science 200:441–443

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Authors are grateful to Dr. Christina Coster-Longmann for her help in revising the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biology Department, University of Firenze, Firenze, Italy

    Francesca Romana Dani & Stefano Turillazzi

Authors
  1. Francesca Romana Dani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Stefano Turillazzi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Francesca Romana Dani.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Dani, F.R., Turillazzi, S. Chemical Communication and Reproduction Partitioning in Social Wasps. J Chem Ecol 44, 796–804 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-018-0968-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-018-0968-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation