Nestmateship and body size do not influence mate choice in males and females: a laboratory study of a primitively eusocial wasp Ropalidia marginata

Abstract

We investigated the effect of nestmateship and body size on mate selection through a choice based assay in the primitively eusocial wasp Ropalidia marginata. A recent study has shown that male and female R. marginata mate with their nestmates and non-nestmates with equal probability if no choice is available. That study could also not detect any influence of body size on mating probability in the absence of choice. To confirm that the same results can be obtained even when the wasps have a choice, we offered a choice of two virgin partners either to a virgin test male or to a virgin test female and measured the probability that the test individual would mate with any particular partner based on nestmateship or body size. We show here that even when a choice is available, neither male nor female test wasps base their mate choice on the nestmateship or body size of the partner. We therefore suggest that the natural mating habit of these wasps is sufficiently promiscuous and not constrained by such factors as nestmateship and body size.