Presentation Details
| Cooperation vs.Conflict: Effects of Social Context on Division of Labor in a Flexibly Social Bee Beryl M Jones, Savanna G Ploessl, Elijah C Cardona, Evelena G Cecil. Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA |
Abstract
Bees are excellent models for studying social behavior, with over 20,000 species that vary tremendously in life history traits and include solitary, flexibly social and obligately social lineages. In addition, several species exhibit social plasticity within and between nests, including in some cases a flexible division of labor among females who all retain the ability to reproduce. Despite extensive interest in the evolution of social behavior in bees, the mechanisms by which groups of totipotent individuals in flexibly social species communicate and cooperate to form a division of labor are not well understood. Here, we used Raspberry Pi cameras to continuously record behavior in observation nests of Lasioglossum zephyrus, a sweat bee with morphologically indistinct queens and workers. We varied group size and familiarity of initial nest members to ask how social context influences the establishment and degree of cooperation. In addition to providing the first detailed records of nighttime behavior in L. zephyrus, our results show that both group size and familiarity have effects on the speed with which cooperation emerges and overall nest productivity.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.
Content Locked. Log into a registered attendee account to access this presentation.