Drone aggregation behavior in the social wasp Vespula germanica (Hymenoptera: Vespidae): Effect of kinship and density

MASCIOCCHI, MAITÉ; ANGELETTI, BÁRBARA; CORLEY, JUAN C.; MARTÍNEZ, ANDRÉS S.

Scientific Reports

Nature Reearch

Año: 2020 vol. 10

Inbreeding can have negative consequences on population viability because of the reduced fitness ofthe progeny. In general, most species have developed mechanisms to minimize inbreeding such asdispersal and kin avoidance behavior. In the eusocial Hymenoptera, related individuals typically sharea common nest and have relatively short mating periods, this could lead to inbreeding, and becauseof their single?locus complementary sex determination system, it may generate diploid males thatcould result in infertile triploid progeny representing a cost for the colony. Vespula germanica, is aneusocial wasp that has invaded many parts of the world, despite likely facing a reduced genetic poolduring the arrival phases. We ask whether male wasp display specific aggregation behavior that favorsgenetic diversity, key to reduce inbreeding. Through a set of laboratory experiments, we investigatedthe effects of drone nestmateship and density on the aggregation behavior of V. germanica drones.We show that drones avoid aggregating with their nestmates at all densities while non-nestmates areavoided only at high densities. This suggests that lek genetic diversity and density could be regulatedthrough drone behavior and in the long run minimize inbreeding favoring invasion success.