Shukla, SP and Gadagkar, R (2023) Surplus feeding reverses worker ovarian suppression and disrupts social cohesion in queen-right wasp colonies. In: Indian Journal of Entomology, Online . pp. 1-8.
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Abstract
Nutrition is an important component of oogenesis and ovarian development in insects. In social insect colonies where a large proportion of females are sterile, suppression of reproduction caused by differential acquisition and retention of nutrition has been hypothesized to cause worker sterility. This study, using the primitively eusocial wasp <em>Ropalidia marginata</em> (Lepeletier) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae), show that worker ovarian development in naturally foraging colonies is more similar to experimentally food-limited colonies than to surplus-fed colonies, indicating nutritional castration in workers whose ovaries are inhibited by food availability. Further, experimental provisioning of surplus nutrition led to higher ovarian development in workers as compared to naturally foraging and food-limited workers. Surplus feeding also led to higher nest desertion by workers, leading to a breakdown of the colony’s social structure, whereas food-limited colonies retained workers.
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Publication: | Indian Journal of Entomology |
| Publisher: | Entomological Society of India, New Delhi |
| Additional Information: | The copyright of this article belongs to the Authors. |
| Keywords: | Nutrition, eusociality, oogenesis, worker sterility, caste differentiation, Ropalidia marginata, reproduction, suppression, ovarian development, nutritional castration, food availability, surplus feeding |
| Department/Centre: | Division of Biological Sciences > Centre for Ecological Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 27 Jan 2023 07:06 |
| Last Modified: | 27 Jan 2023 07:06 |
| URI: | https://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/79524 |
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