Sexy faces in a male paper wasp.
Sexually selected signals are common in many animals, though little reported in social insects. We investigated the occurrence of male visual signals mediating the dominance relationships among males and female choice of sexual partner in the paper wasp Polistes simillimus. Males have three conspicuous, variable and sexually dimorphic traits: black pigmentation on the head, a pair of yellow abdominal spots and body size differences. By conducting behavioral assays, we found that none of the three visual traits are associated with male-male dominance relationship. However, males with higher proportion of black facial pigmentation and bigger yellow abdominal spots are more likely chosen as sexual partners. Also, after experimentally manipulating the proportion of black pigment on males' face, we found that females may evaluate male facial coloration during the choice of a sexual partner. Thus, the black pigmentation on P. simillimus male's head appears to play a role as a sexually selected visual signal. We suggest that sexual selection is a common force in Polistes and we highlight the importance of this group as a model for the study of visual communication in insects.
Departamento de Entomologia, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brasil.
André Rodrigues
AR
de Souza
Departamento de Fisiologia, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Juiz de fora, Minas Gerais, Brasil.
Carlos
C
Alberto Mourão Júnior
Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Filosofia Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto da Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brasil.
Fabio Santos
FS
do Nascimento
Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brasil.
José
J
Lino-Neto
D000819:Animal Communication; D000818:Animals; D049628:Body Size; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D010858:Pigmentation; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D012919:Social Behavior; D014863:Wasps / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*