Differential aggression towards alien conspecifics in a primitively eusocial wasp

Abstract

When the members of a colony of the primitively eusocial wasp Ropalidia marginals were removed from their nests and introduced into a cage containing an alien colony, the resident wasps in the cage treated different classes of introduced animals differently. The young (< 8 days old) introduced animals were allowed to join the resident colony without any aggression. The queen amongst the introduced animals was immediately attacked and killed. Of the remaining animals, some were killed depending on how much time they had spent away from their natal nests before introduction. These results suggest that aggression may be directed towards aliens based on the perception of reproductive threat from them.