Natural History and Evolution of Paper-Wasps

by Stefano Turillazzi (Editor), Mary Jane West-Eberhard (Editor)

Overview

The diversity of social behavior among birds and primates is surpassed only by members of the Hymenopteran insects, including bees, ants, and the genus Polistes, or paper-wasps. This volume combines incisive reviews and new, unpublished data in studies of paper-wasps, a large and varied group whose life patterns are often studied by biologists interested in social evolution. While this research is significant to the natural history of paper-wasps, it also applies to topics of general interest such as the evolution of cooperation, social parasitism, kin recognition, and the division of labor.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198549475
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	02/22/1996
Series:	Oxford Science Publications
Pages:	414
Product dimensions:	9.50(w) x 6.26(h) x 1.28(d)

About the Author

University of Florence

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Table of Contents

1. Polistes: analysis of a society2. Phylogeny and biogeography of Polistes3. Learning, individual programs, and higher-level rules in construction of behaviour of Polistes4. Ecological factors influencing the colony cycle of Polistes5. Social parasitism and its evolution in Polistes6. Lek-like courtship in paper-wasps; 'a prolonged, delicate, and troublesome affair'7. Homing in paper wasps8. The evolution of exocrine gland function in wasps9. Kin recognition in social wasps10. The role of cuticular hydrocarbons in social insects: is it the same in paper wasps? 11. Selective altruism towards closer over more distant relatives in colonies of the primitively eusocial wasp, Polistes12. Behavioural screening and the evolution of polygyny in paper wasps13. The origin and maintenance of eusociality: the advantage of extended parental care14. Polistes in perspective: comparative social biology and evolution in Belanogaster and Stenogastrinae15. The evolution of eusociality, including a review of the social status of Ropalidia marignata16. Wasps make nests: nests make conditions17. Wasp societies as microcosms for the study of development and evolution18. Some epistemological reflections on Polistes as a model organismsReferences

Editorial Reviews

". . .excellent and of lasting value."—Ecology

From the Publisher