Nest shapes in paper wasps: can the variability of forms be deduced from the same construction algorithm?

We constructed a simple model to show that the variability of nest structures in the social wasp genus Polistes could result from a simple algorithm modulated by a single parameter. The interplay between the simple algorithm and the geometry of the nest structure resulted in isotropic growth. New construction on the sides of the comb was initiated according to the size of the sides. Due to the geometry of the comb a new rule emerged: if one side of the structure is extended, it decreases the chance that that side will be further extended in the next step (because the number of possible initiation positions decreases), but at the same time construction on one side increases the probability of the extension of that side's neighbours (because their possible initiation positions increase). This emergent isotropic growth keeps the nest almost circular, regardless of nest size, and it ensures well–centred nests. Eccentric nests reflect differences in initiation preference towards particular sides of the previously built structure. Interplay between structural constraints and the simple behavioural algorithm, which is governed by both structural and ‘external’ information, resulted in nests of different shapes. The model was a good predictor of the range of Polistes nest forms found in nature.

[1]  I. Karsai,et al.  Comb Building in Social Wasps: Self-organization and Stigmergic Script , 1993 .

[2]  J. Deneubourg,et al.  Collective patterns and decision-making , 1989 .

[3]  J. Murray,et al.  A mathematical model of self-organized pattern formation on the combs of honeybee colonies , 1990 .

[4]  G. Theraulaz,et al.  Nest building in a social wasp: postures and constraints (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) , 1995 .

[5]  István Karsai,et al.  Nests built on the dorsum of conspecifies in Polistes: the value of anomalous behaviour , 1995, Animal Behaviour.

[6]  S. Turillazzi,et al.  Nest exchange experiments in Polistes gallicus (L.) (Hymenoptera Vespidae). , 1989 .

[7]  M. J. W. Eberhard.  The social biology of polistine wasps. , 1969 .

[8]  G Theraulaz,et al.  Coordination in Distributed Building , 1995, Science.

[9]  R. Jeanne,et al.  The regulation of complex building behaviour in the paper wasp, Polistes fuscatus (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Vespidae) , 1990, Animal Behaviour.

[10]  E. J. M. Evesham.  Social Insects: Ecology and Behavioural Biology, M.V. Brian. Chapman & Hall, London (1983), x, +377. Price £25.00 hardback, £12.95 paperback , 1985 .

[11]  S. Yamane,et al.  Life Cycle and Nest Architecture of Polistes Wasps in the Okushiri Island, Northern Japan (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) (With 9 Text-figures and 2 Tables) , 1972 .

[12]  NIGEL R FRANKS,et al.  Self-organizing nest construction in ants: individual worker behaviour and the nest's dynamics , 1997, Animal Behaviour.

[13]  O. Bruinsma.  An analysis of building behaviour of the termite Macrotermes subhyalinus (Rambur) , 1979 .

[14]  Guy Theraulaz,et al.  Modelling the Collective Building of Complex Architectures in Social Insects with Lattice Swarms , 1995 .

[15]  István Karsai,et al.  Brood patterns in wasp combs: the influence of brood on egg-laying and building by adults , 1997 .

[16]  E. Bonabeau,et al.  Self-organization in social insects. , 1997, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[17]  J. Wenzel.  A social wasp's nest from the Cretaceous period, Utah, USA, and its biogeographical significance. , 1990 .

[18]  Zsolt Pénzes,et al.  Dynamics of colony development in Polistes dominulus: a modeling approach , 1996, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

[19]  H. Saussure.  Études sur la famille des vespides / par Henri de Saussure. , 1852 .

[20]  M. J. Norušis,et al.  SPSS for Windows : professional statistics, release 5 , 1992 .

[21]  D Sadeh,et al.  Direction finding by hornets under gravitational and centrifugal forces , 1975, Science.

[22]  R. Jeanne,et al.  The Adaptiveness of Social Wasp Nest Architecture , 1975, The Quarterly Review of Biology.