A wasp of the species Polistes canadensis. In this species, workers can also become queens. © UCL
Did this wasp win the power struggle in the wasp’s nest? She belongs to a species in which the workers fight for succession when the queen dies. Researchers have now found that in the often seemingly chaotic phase of the power struggle, certain individuals hold the colony together.
A new study from University College London provides surprising insights into the social behavior of the red paper wasp (Polistes canadensis). It shows that in the violent and chaotic power struggle for leadership among the people, individuals compensate for the lower work performance of their sisters. The species occurs in the Caribbean and lives in colonies controlled by a dominant female. Unlike most wasp species, however, the workers are not sterile. This allows another female to take over as queen if she dies.
In their experiments, the scientists removed the queen from wasp colonies and examined how the insects responded. Many females then showed aggressive fights for reproductive dominance and the colony’s social network was massively disrupted. Despite the tumult, however, the peoples did not collapse. A certain group of individuals, whom the researchers called compensators, maintained stability in the group. They avoided conflicts and focused more on essential tasks such as foraging and brood care.
The scientists found no biological differences between fighting females and the compensating females. This suggests that some wasps strategically choose to secure brood, while other individuals see their best chance for future reproduction as taking control of the colony.
The study provides valuable insights into the little-researched reproductive behavior of cooperative wasps in the tropics. It shows that cooperative wasp colonies do not rely on orderly, rule-based succession systems to remain stable. This may even be applicable to human societies, as lead author Seirian Sumner explained: “Understanding how animal societies deal with conflict can encourage us to rethink the concept of cooperation more generally. In times of upheaval, a society relies on those who continue to do the essential work in the background. In many ways, we may be more like wasps than we realize.”