Aggression and resource sharing among foundresses in the social wasp Polistes dominulus: testing transactional theories of conflict Export

@article{Tibbetts2000, abstract = {Tug-of-war models of within-group conflict predict that the frequency of conflict will be positively related to the degree of reproductive sharing within the group; in contrast, a negative relationship supports transactional models, in which reproductive payments among group members limit the degree of within-group selfishness. We tested predictions of the tug-of-war and transactional models by examining cofoundress interactions during the founding (preworker) phase of colony development in 30 naturally nesting colonies of the paper wasp Polistes dominulus. We found that the mean rate of foundress aggression and the mean probability of food sharing were significantly negatively associated, which supports the prediction of the transactional, not the tug-of-war model. Further, cofoundress aggression significantly increased over the founding phase (independently of temperature), while the fraction of aggression initiated by the dominant (alpha) foundress significantly decreased over this period. We show that both of these results are predicted by the transactional model of within-group conflict. Interestingly, the alpha's rate of aggression was significantly positively temperature dependent, while the beta's was not. This indicates that the alpha's aggression level may often be near her physiological maximum, while the beta's aggression is limited by other factors, contradicting the prediction of the tug-of-war model. Moreover, the alpha's aggression was significantly positively temperature dependent only in the second half of the founding period, as predicted by the transactional model since this is when there is least reproductive sharing. Finally, our results indicate that the alpha's level of aggression depends on the resources controlled by the beta.}, address = {Tibbetts, EACornell Univ, Dept Neurobiol \& Behav, Ithaca, NY 14853 USACornell Univ, Dept Neurobiol \& Behav, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA}, author = {Tibbetts, E. A. and Reeve, H. K.}, citeulike-article-id = {1868357}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {#}, comment = {368VPTimes Cited:10Cited References Count:20}, journal = {Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology}, keywords = {bibtex-import, conflict}, pages = {344--352}, posted-at = {2007-11-05 13:42:28}, priority = {2}, title = {Aggression and resource sharing among foundresses in the social wasp Polistes dominulus: testing transactional theories of conflict}, url = {<Go to ISI>://000090138400002}, volume = {48}, year = {2000} }

TY - JOUR ID - Tibbetts2000 L3 - citeulike-article-id:1868357 N2 - Tug-of-war models of within-group conflict predict that the frequency of conflict will be positively related to the degree of reproductive sharing within the group; in contrast, a negative relationship supports transactional models, in which reproductive payments among group members limit the degree of within-group selfishness. We tested predictions of the tug-of-war and transactional models by examining cofoundress interactions during the founding (preworker) phase of colony development in 30 naturally nesting colonies of the paper wasp Polistes dominulus. We found that the mean rate of foundress aggression and the mean probability of food sharing were significantly negatively associated, which supports the prediction of the transactional, not the tug-of-war model. Further, cofoundress aggression significantly increased over the founding phase (independently of temperature), while the fraction of aggression initiated by the dominant (alpha) foundress significantly decreased over this period. We show that both of these results are predicted by the transactional model of within-group conflict. Interestingly, the alpha's rate of aggression was significantly positively temperature dependent, while the beta's was not. This indicates that the alpha's aggression level may often be near her physiological maximum, while the beta's aggression is limited by other factors, contradicting the prediction of the tug-of-war model. Moreover, the alpha's aggression was significantly positively temperature dependent only in the second half of the founding period, as predicted by the transactional model since this is when there is least reproductive sharing. Finally, our results indicate that the alpha's level of aggression depends on the resources controlled by the beta. JF - Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology AD - Tibbetts, EACornell Univ, Dept Neurobiol \& Behav, Ithaca, NY 14853 USACornell Univ, Dept Neurobiol \& Behav, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA EP - 352 TI - Aggression and resource sharing among foundresses in the social wasp Polistes dominulus: testing transactional theories of conflict VL - 48 SP - 344 KW - bibtex-import KW - conflict N1 - 368VPTimes Cited:10Cited References Count:20 AU - Tibbetts, EA AU - Reeve, HK PY - 2000/// UR - # ER -