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Science 8 April 2005:
Vol. 308. no. 5719, pp. 264 - 267
DOI: 10.1126/science.1109724
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Reports

Bivoltinism as an Antecedent to Eusociality in the Paper Wasp Genus Polistes

James H. Hunt1* and Gro V. Amdam2*

To learn the evolutionary trajectories of caste differentiation in eusocial species is a major goal of sociobiology. We present an explanatory framework for caste evolution in the eusocial wasp genus Polistes (Vespidae), which is a model system for insect eusocial evolution. We hypothesize that Polistes worker and gyne castes stem from two developmental pathways that characterized the bivoltine life cycle of a solitary ancestor. Through individual-based simulations, we show that our mechanistic framework can reproduce colony-level characteristics of Polistes and, thereby, that social castes can emerge from solitary regulatory pathways. Our explanatory framework illustrates, by specific example, a changed perspective for understanding insect social evolution.

1 Department of Biology, University of Missouri-St. Louis, One University Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63121, USA.
2 Department of Entomology, University of California-Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA, and Department of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Post Office Box 5025, N-1432 Aas, Norway.

* To whom correspondence should be sent. E-mail: jimhunt{at}umsl.edu (J.H.H.); gvamdam{at}ucdavis.edu (G.V.A.)

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