How within-group behavioural variation and task efficiency enhance fitness in a social group

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Volumn 278, Issue 1709, 2011, Pages 1209-1215

  Pruitt, Jonathan N ^a,b   Riechert, Susan E ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

Author keywords

Animal personality; Balancing selection; Behavioural syndrome; Cooperation; Social selection; Task specialization

Indexed keywords

COLONY; COOPERATIVE BEHAVIOR; EUSOCIALITY; FITNESS; GROUP BEHAVIOR; INDIVIDUAL VARIATION; NATURAL SELECTION; PREY CAPTURE; PREY SIZE; RECIPROCITY; SPECIALIZATION; SPIDER;

ANIMAL; ANIMAL BEHAVIOR; ARTICLE; FEMALE; MALE; PHENOTYPE; PHYSIOLOGY; POPULATION DYNAMICS; SOCIAL BEHAVIOR; SPIDER;

ANIMALS; BEHAVIOR, ANIMAL; FEMALE; MALE; PHENOTYPE; POPULATION DYNAMICS; SOCIAL BEHAVIOR; SPIDERS;

EID: 79960033895     PISSN: 09628452     EISSN: 14712954     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2010.1700     Document Type: Article

References (59)

1. Oster, G. F. & Wilson, E. O. 1978 Caste and ecology in the social insects. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
2. Wilson, E. O. 1987 Causes of ecological success: the case of the ants. J. Anim. Ecol. 56, 1-9. (doi:10.2307/4795)
3. Hölldobler, B. & Wilson, E. O. 1990 The ants. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.
4. Calabi, P. & Traniello, J. F. A. 1989 Social organization in the ant Pheidole dentata: physical and temporal caste ratios lack ecological correlates. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 24, 69-78. (doi:10.1007/BF00299638)
5. Beshers, S. N. & Fewell, J. H. 2001 Models of division of labor in social insects. Ann. Rev. Entomol. 46, 413-440. (doi:10.1146/annurev.ento.46.1.413)
6. Chittka, L. & Muller, H. 2009 Learning, specialization, efficiency and task allocation in social insects. Commun. Integr. Biol. 2, 151-154.
7. Dornhaus, A. 2008 Specialization does not predict individual efficiency in an ant. PLoS Biol. 6, e285. (doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060285)
8. Argyris, C. 1973 Personality and organization. New York, NY: Harper & Brothers.
9. Schneider, B. 1975 Organization climates: an essay. Pers. Psychol. 78, 447-479. (doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.1975.tb01386.x)
10. Buskirk, R. E. 1981 Sociality in Arachnida. In Social insects (ed. H. R. Hermann), pp. 281-367. New York, NY: Academic Press.
11. Avilés, L. 1997 Causes and consequences of cooperation and permanent sociality in spiders. In The evolution of social behaviour in insects and arachnids (eds J. C. Choe & B. Crespi), pp. 476-498. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
12. Lubin, Y. & Bilde, T. 2007 The evolution of sociality in spiders. Adv. Study Behav. 27, 83-145. (doi:10.1016/S0065-3454(07)37003-4)
13. Vollrath, F. 1986 Eusociality and extraordinary sex ratios in the spider Anelosimus eximius (Araneae: Theridiidae). Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 18, 283-287. (doi:10.1007/BF00300005)
14. Rypstra, A. L. 1993 Prey size, social competition and the development of reproductive division of labor in social spider groups. Am. Nat. 142, 868-880. (doi:10.1086/285577)
15. Ebert, D. 1998 Asymmetry in relation to body weight and hunger in the tropical social spider Anelosimus eximius (Araneae, Theridiidae). J. Arachnol. 26, 70-80.
16. Christenson, T. E. 1984 Behaviour of colonial and solitary spiders of the theridiid species Anelosimus eximius. Anim. Behav. 32, 725-734. (doi:10.1016/S0003-3472(84)80148-7)
17. Vollrath, F. 1986 Environment, reproduction and the sex ratio of the social spider Anelosimus eximius (Araneae: Theridiidae). J. Arachnol. 14, 267-281.
18. Jones, T. C. & Parker, P. G. 2002 Delayed dispersal benefits both mother and offspring in the cooperative spider Anelosimus studiosus (Araneae: Theridiidae). Behav. Ecol. 13, 142-148. (doi:10.1093/beheco/13.1.142)
19. Jeanson, R., Fewell, J. H., Gorelick, R. & Bertram, S. M. 2007 Emergence of increased division of labor as a function of group size. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 62, 289-298. (doi:10.1007/s00265-007-0464-5)
20. Sih, A., Bell, A. M. & Johnson, J. C. 2004 Behavioral syndromes: an ecological and evolutionary overview. Trends Ecol. Evol. 19, 372-378. (doi:10.1016/j.tree.2004.04.009)
21. Bolnick, D. I., Svanback, R., Fordyce, J. A., Yang, L. H., Davis, J. M., Hulsey, C. D. & Forister, M. L. 2003 The ecology of individuals: incidence and implications of individual specialization. Am. Nat. 161, 1-28.
22. Porter, S. D. & Tschinkel, W. R. 1985 Fire ant polymorphism: the ergonomics of brood production. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 16, 323-336. (doi:10.1007/BF00295545)
23. Porter, S. D. & Tschinkel, W. R. 1985 Fire ant polymorphism: factors affecting worker size. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 78, 381-386.
24. Schmid-Hempel, P. 1992 Worker castes and adaptive demography. J. Evol. Biol. 5, 1-12. (doi:10.1046/j.1420-9101.1992.5010001.x)
25. Anderson, C. & Ratnieks, F. L.W. 1999 Task partitioning in insect societies. I. Effect of colony size on queuing delay and colony ergonomic efficiency. Am. Nat. 154, 521-535. (doi:10.1086/303255)
26. Mattila, H. R. & Seeley, T. D. 2007 Genetic diversity in honey bee colonies enhances productivity and fitness. Science 317, 362-364. (doi:10.1126/science.1143046)
27. Burns, J. G. & Dyer, A. G. 2008 Diversity of speed-accuracy strategies benefits social insects. Curr. Biol. 18, R953-R954. (doi:10.1016/j.cub.2008.08.028)
28. Muller, H. & Chittka, L. 2008 Animal personalities: the advantage of diversity. Curr. Biol. 20, R961-R963. (doi:10.1016/j.cub.2008.09.001)
29. Nettle, D. 2006 The evolution of personality variation in humans and other animals. Am. Psychol. 61, 622-631. (doi:10.1037/0003-066X.61.6.622)
30. Bell, A. M. 2007 Future directions in behavioural syndromes research. Proc. R. Soc. B 274, 755-761. (doi:10.1098/rspb.2006.0199)
31. Trumbo, S. T. & Robinson, G. E. 1997 Learning and task interference by corpse-removal specialists in honey bee colonies. Ethology 103, 966-975. (doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.1997.tb00138.x)
32. Trumbo, S. T., Huang, Z. Y. & Robinson, G. E. 1997 Division of labor between undertaker specialists and other middle-aged workers in honey bee colonies. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 41, 151-163. (doi:10.1007/s002650050374)
33. Waibel, M., Floreano, D., Magnenat, S. & Keller, L. 2006 Division of labour and colony efficiency in social insects: effects of interactions between genetic architecture, colony kin structure and rate of perturbations. Proc. R. Soc. B 273, 1815-1823. (doi:10.1098/rspb.2006.3513)
34. Jeanson, R., Clark, R. M., Holbrook, C. T., Bertram, S. M., Fewell, J. H. & Kukuk, P. F. 2008 Division of labor and socially induced changes in response thresholds in associations of solitary halictine bees. Anim. Behav. 7, 593-602. (doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.04.007)
35. Langridge, E. A., Sendova-Franks, A. B. & Franks, N. R. 2008 How experienced individuals contribute to an improvement in collective performance in ants. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 62, 447-456. (doi:10.1007/s00265-007-0472-5)
36. Jones, T. C. & Parker, P. G. 2000 Costs and benefits of foraging associated with delayed dispersal in the spider Anelosimus studiosus (Araneae: Theridiidae). J. Arachnol. 28, 61-69. (doi:10.1636/0161-8202(2000)028[0061:CABOFA]2.0.CO;2)
37. Furey, R. E. 1998 Two cooperatively social populations of the theridiid spider Anelosimus studiosus in a temperate region. Anim. Behav. 55, 727-735. (doi:10.1006/anbe.1997.0648)
38. Pruitt, J. N., Riechert, S. E., Iturralde, G., Vega, M., Fitzpatrick, B. M. & Avilés, L. 2010 Population differences in behaviour are explained by shared withinpopulation trait correlations. J. Evol. Biol. 23, 748-756. (doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2010.01940.x)
39. Jones, T. C., Riechert, S. E., Dalrymple, S. & Parker, P. G. 2007 Fostering model explains environmental variation in levels of sociality in a spider system. Anim. Behav. 73, 195-204. (doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2006.06.006)
40. Riechert, S. E. & Jones, T. C. 2008 Phenotypic variation in the behaviour of the spider, Anelosimus studiosus, facilitates shift from single female to multiple female nests in colder environments. Anim. Behav. 75, 1893-1902. (doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.10.033)
41. Pruitt, J. N., Riechert, S. E. & Jones, T. C. 2008 Behavioral syndromes and their fitness consequences in a socially polymorphic spider, Anelosimus studiosus. Anim. Behav. 76, 871-879. (doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.05.009)
42. Pruitt, J. N. & Riechert, S. E. 2009 Male mating preference is associated with risk of pre-copulatory cannibalism in a socially polymorphic spider. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 63, 1573-1580. (doi:10.1007/s00265-009-0751-4)
43. Pruitt, J. N. & Riechert, S. E. 2009 Sex matters: sexually dimorphic fitness consequences of a behavioral syndrome. Anim. Behav. 78, 175-181. (doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2009.04.016)
44. Pruitt, J. N. & Riechert, S. E. 2009 Frequency-dependent success of cheaters during foraging bouts might limit their spread within colonies of a socially polymorphic spider. Evolution 63, 2966-2973. (doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2009.00771.x)
45. Jones, T. C., Pruitt, J. N. & Riechert, S. E. In press. Reproductive success in a socially polymorphic spider: social individuals experience depressed reproductive success in isolation. Ecol. Entomol.
46. Albo, M. J., Viera, C. & Costa, F. G. 2007 Pseudocopulation and male-male conflict elicited by subadult females of the subsocial spider Anelosimus studiosus (Theridiidae). Behaviour 144, 1217-1234. (doi:10.1163/156853907781890896)
47. Duncan, S. E., Riechert, S. E., Fitzpatrick, B. M. & Fordyce, J. A. 2010 Relatedness and genetic structure in a socially polymorphic population of the spider Anelosimus studiosus. Mol. Ecol. 4, 810-818. (doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2010.04523.x)
48. Ward, P. I. & Enders, M. M. 1985 Conflict and co-operation in the group feeding of the social spider Stegodyphus mimosarum. Behaviour 94, 167-182. (doi:10.1163/156853985X00325)
49. Ward, P. I. 1986 Prey availability increases less quickly than nest size in the social spider Stegodyphus mimosarum. Behaviour 97, 213-225. (doi:10.1163/156853986X00603)
50. Rypstra, A. L. & Tirey, R. S. 1991 Prey size, prey perishability and group foraging in a social spider. Oecologia 86, 25-30. (doi:10.1007/BF00317384)
51. Pasquet, A. & Krafft, B. 1992 Cooperation and prey capture efficiency in a social spider, Anelosimus eximius (Araneae, Theridiidae). Ethology 90, 121-133. (doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.1992.tb00826.x)
52. Whitehouse, M. E. A. & Lubin, Y. 2005 The functions of societies and the evolution of group living: spider societies as a test case. Biol. Rev. Camb. Phil. Soc. 80, 347-361. (doi:10.1017/S1464793104006694)
53. Powers, K. S. & Avilés, L. 2007 The role of prey size and abundance in the geographical distribution of spider sociality. J. Anim. Ecol. 76, 995-1003. (doi:10.1111/j.1365-2656.2007.01267.x)
54. Purcell, J. & Avilés, L. 2007 Smaller colonies and more solitary living mark higher elevation populations of a social spider. J. Anim. Ecol. 76, 590-597. (doi:10.1111/j.1365-2656.2007.01228.x)
55. Guevara, J. & Avilés, L. 2007 Multiple sampling techniques confirm differences in insect size between low and high elevations that may influence levels of spider sociality. Ecology 88, 2015-2023. (doi:10.1890/06-0995.1)
56. Yip, E. C., Powers, K. S. Avilés, L. 2008 Cooperative capture of large prey solves scaling challenge faced by spider societies. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 105, 11818-11822. (doi:10.1073/pnas.0710603105)
57. Petersen, B. 1950 The relationship between the size of mother and number of eggs and young in some spiders and its significance for the evolution of size. Experientia 6, 96-98. (doi:10.1007/BF02153369)
58. Kessler, A. 1971 Relationship between egg production and food consumption in species of the genus Pardosa (Lycosidae, Araneae) under experimental conditions of food abundance and food storage. Oecologia 8, 93-109. (doi:10.1007/BF00345629)
59. Foelix, R. F. 1996 Biology of spiders. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.