TY - JOUR
T1 - Little effect of seasonal constraints on population genetic structure in eusocial paper wasps
AU - Lengronne, Thibault
AU - Leadbeater, Ellouise
AU - Patalano, Solenn
AU - Dreier, Stephanie
AU - Field, Jeremy
AU - Sumner, Seirian
AU - Keller, Laurent
PY - 2012/10
Y1 - 2012/10
N2 - Climate has long been suggested to affect population genetic structures of eusocial insect societies. For instance, Hamilton [Journal of Theoretical Biology 7 (1964) 17] discusses whether temperate and tropical eusocial insects may show differences in population-level genetic structure and viscosity, and how this might relate to differences in the degree of synchrony in their life cycles or modes of nest founding. Despite the importance of Hamilton's 1964 papers, this specific idea has not been tested in actual populations of wasps, probably due to the paucity of studies on tropical species. Here, we compare colony and population genetic structures in two species of primitively eusocial paper wasps with contrasting ecologies: the tropical species Polistes canadensis and the temperate species P. dominulus. Our results provide important clarifications of Hamilton's discussion. Specifically, we show that the genetic structures of the temperate and tropical species were very similar, indicating that seasonality does not greatly affect population viscosity or inbreeding. For both species, the high genetic differentiation between nests suggests strong selection at the nest level to live with relatives, whereas low population viscosity and low genetic differentiation between nest aggregations might reflect balancing selection to disperse, avoiding competition with relatives. Overall, our study suggests no prevalence of seasonal constraints of the life cycle in affecting the population genetic structure of eusocial paper wasps. These conclusions are likely to apply also to other primitively eusocial insects, such as halictine bees. They also highlight how selection for a kin structure that promotes altruism can override potential effects of ecology in eusocial insects. © 2012 The Authors.Ecology and Evolution published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
AB - Climate has long been suggested to affect population genetic structures of eusocial insect societies. For instance, Hamilton [Journal of Theoretical Biology 7 (1964) 17] discusses whether temperate and tropical eusocial insects may show differences in population-level genetic structure and viscosity, and how this might relate to differences in the degree of synchrony in their life cycles or modes of nest founding. Despite the importance of Hamilton's 1964 papers, this specific idea has not been tested in actual populations of wasps, probably due to the paucity of studies on tropical species. Here, we compare colony and population genetic structures in two species of primitively eusocial paper wasps with contrasting ecologies: the tropical species Polistes canadensis and the temperate species P. dominulus. Our results provide important clarifications of Hamilton's discussion. Specifically, we show that the genetic structures of the temperate and tropical species were very similar, indicating that seasonality does not greatly affect population viscosity or inbreeding. For both species, the high genetic differentiation between nests suggests strong selection at the nest level to live with relatives, whereas low population viscosity and low genetic differentiation between nest aggregations might reflect balancing selection to disperse, avoiding competition with relatives. Overall, our study suggests no prevalence of seasonal constraints of the life cycle in affecting the population genetic structure of eusocial paper wasps. These conclusions are likely to apply also to other primitively eusocial insects, such as halictine bees. They also highlight how selection for a kin structure that promotes altruism can override potential effects of ecology in eusocial insects. © 2012 The Authors.Ecology and Evolution published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
KW - Genetic structure
KW - Polistes canadensis
KW - Polistes dominulus
KW - Population viscosity
KW - Sociality
KW - Tropical/temperate
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84887850609&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/ece3.366
DO - 10.1002/ece3.366
M3 - Article (Academic Journal)
C2 - 23145345
VL - 2
SP - 2610
EP - 2619
JO - Ecology and Evolution
JF - Ecology and Evolution
SN - 2045-7758
IS - 10
ER -