Brain Functionality Differs Among Queen and Worker Wasps

The brain regions involved with sensory perception in paperwasp colony workers develops differently than the colony queen, according to a new study in the journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

A team led by Drexel University's Sean O'Donnell found that queen wasps, who rarely venture outside the colony, have smaller brain regions for processing visual information than the out-and-about workers in their own colonies. The team found this to be true in the majority of the 12 paperwasp species they studied.

"The wasps in different castes within a colony don't differ much genetically. The differences we see show the signature of the environment on brain development," O'Donnell said.

To test how the brain sensory regions develop differently among castes within the same colony, the team compared differences in brain development across various wasp species.

For some wasp species, adults fight for the position of queen, while in others, adults emerge with their caste roles already established.

The researchers found greater brain differences in worker and queen wasp species where adult wasps fought for dominance, which suggests a brain plasticity, or development in adulthood in response to environmental and behavioral needs.

"The strong behavioral and ecological differences between individuals within insect colonies make them powerful tools for studying how individual brain differences come about, and their functional significance," O'Donnell said.