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Author  |
Tibbetts, E.A. |
| Title |
Visual signals of individual identity in the wasp Polistes fuscatus |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2002 |
Publication |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci. |
| Volume |
269 |
Issue |
1423 |
Pages |
1423-1428 |
| Keywords |
hymenoptera; individual-recognition; learning-insect |
| Abstract |
Individual recognition is an essential component of interactions in many social systems, but insects are often thought incapable of the sophistication necessary to recognize individuals. If this were true, it would impose limits on the societies that insects could form. For example, queens and workers of the paper wasp Polistes fuscatus form a linear dominance hierarchy that determines how food, work and reproduction are divided within the colony. Such a stable hierarchy would be facilitated if individuals of different ranks have some degree of recognition. P. fuscatus wasps have, to our knowledge, previously undocumented variability in their yellow facial and abdominal markings that are intriguing candidates for signals of individual identity. Here, I describe these highly variable markings and experimentally test whether P. fuscatus queens and workers use these markings to identify individual nest-mates visually. I demonstrate that individuals whose yellow markings are experimentally altered with paint receive more aggression than control wasps who are painted in a way that does not alter their markings. Further, aggression declines towards wasps with experimentally altered markings as these novel markings become familiar to their nestmates. This evidence for individual recognition in P. fuscatus indicates that interactions between insects may be even more complex than previously anticipated.
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ 929 |
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4732 |
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| Author |
Tibbetts, E.A.; Dale, J. |
| Title |
Individual recognition: it is good to be different |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2007 |
Publication |
Trends in Ecology & Evolution |
Abbreviated Journal |
Trends. Ecol. Evol |
| Volume |
22 |
Issue |
10 |
Pages |
529-537 |
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| Abstract |
Individual recognition (IR) behavior has been widely studied, uncovering spectacular recognition abilities across a range of taxa and modalities. Most studies of IR focus on the recognizer (receiver). These studies typically explore whether a species is capable of IR, the cues that are used for recognition and the specializations that receivers use to facilitate recognition. However, relatively little research has explored the other half of the communication equation: the individual being recognized (signaler). Provided there is a benefit to being accurately identified, signalers are expected to actively broadcast their identity with distinctive cues. Considering the prevalence of IR, there are probably widespread benefits associated with distinctiveness. As a result, selection for traits that reveal individual identity might represent an important and underappreciated selective force contributing to the evolution and maintenance of genetic polymorphisms. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4572 |
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