In what experts call a ‘surprising act of selflessness’, some wasp colonies lend their extra workers to tend in neighboring nests, a study has found.
Researchers from the United Kingdom studied about 20,000 baby pens from Neotropic paper and their caregivers from 91 different colonies in Panama, including near the canal.
Paper wasps are so-called for the gray and brown paper-like material they make from a mixture of chewed plant fibers and saliva and which is used to construct their nests.
The team found that as colonies get bigger, the usefulness of individual wasps becomes smaller because they have a surplus of labor.
This frees up some of the workers to help their relatives living in the neighboring, smaller colonies, which have fewer workers.
However, such acts are only selfless and altruistic because they cost the wasps time and energy. It also has fringe benefits.
When wasps help their relatives in the distance, it increases the chances that the DNA they share with the colony will survive.
In what experts call a ‘surprising act of selflessness’, some wasp colonies lend their extra workers to tend in neighboring nests, a study has found. Pictured is a paper wasp nest
“These wasps can act like wealthy family members helping their second cousins,” said author and biologist Patrick Kennedy of the University of Bristol.
“If there is not much more you can do to help your immediate family, you can focus on the extended family,” he added.
“By helping more distant relatives who are more needy – those living next door with fewer caregivers – workers can generally pass on more copies of their genes,” explained Andy Radford, co-author and behavioral ecologist from Bristol.
“We believe that similar principles of declining yields can explain seemingly paradoxical acts of altruism in many other social animals.”
Dr Kennedy added: ‘The fact that these paper wasps help other colonies in Central and South America is really strange when you consider that most wasps, ants and bees are extremely hostile.
‘To solve this strange behavior, we combined mathematical modeling with our detailed field observations. In the end, we were very stung. But it was worth it, because our results show that wasps at home can become redundant.
‘A wasp in a colony with few larvae, but many other workers become almost useless. The best thing is to take care of babies with other family members. ‘
Researchers from the United Kingdom studied about 20,000 baby pens from Neotropical paper (photo) and their caregivers from 91 different colonies in Panama, including near the canal
How it appears that forms of ‘altruism’ originated in nature has been an open question since the age of naturalist Charles Darwin – as it seems at first glance that other people are not helping to give living things to their genes by passing on.
However, Professor Radford explains that “in 1964, the legendary biologist WD Hamilton invented the cardinal rule of animal altruism.”
‘Luxurious help to your family because they share many of your genes. Copies of your genes will prevail in the population. ‘
Professor Hamilton also studied tropical wasps – but was confused when he examined Polistes wasps in Brazil, to see workers leaving their immediate family in their own nests to help those of neighboring colonies, which were more closely related.
However, the new findings explain how wasps can afford to help their family members in certain circumstances – and gain an evolutionary advantage.
The team found that as colonies get bigger, the usefulness of individual wasps becomes smaller because they have a surplus of labor. This frees up some of the workers to help their relatives living in the nearby smaller colonies, who have fewer workers.
This study was built on previous work by co-author and behavioral ecologist Seirian Sumner of the paper college, which revealed. It revealed that more than half of the workers in a Panamanian hive bee population had contributed to several nests.
“Wasps provide wonderful windows to the evolution of selflessness,” she said.
“There’s so much going on in a wasp nest: power struggles, self-sacrifice, groups struggling to survive.”
“If we want to understand how societies evolve, we need to look deeper into wasps,” Professor Sumner concluded.
The full findings of the study were published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.