My Life as a Curious Naturalist

Authors

  • Robert L. Jeanne University of Wisconsin, Madison

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v69i1.7715

Keywords:

social wasps, ethology, evolution, colony cycle, research hypotheses

Abstract

The review gives the reader an idea of the kinds of questions I like to ask on social wasps' biology, behavior, and evolution and how I came to answer some of them. Many of those remain only partially answered, others completely unanswered. I call attention to some of these. Many of those remain only partially answered, others completely unanswered. I call attention to some of these. Because this is more of a memoir than a topical review, I will limit citations largely to my own work and that of my students, with reference to other works where relevant; other sources will be found cited in our papers.

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References

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Bouwma, A.M., Nordheim, E.V. & Jeanne, R.L. (2006). Per-capita productivity in a social wasp: no evidence for a negative effect of colony size. Insectes Sociaux, 53: 412-419.

Brillet, C., Tian-Chansky, S.S. & Le Conte, Y. (1999). Abdominal waggings and variation of their rate of occurrence in the social wasp, Polistes dominulus Christ. I. Quantitative analysis. Journal of Insect Behavior, 12: 665-686.

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Dani, F.R., Jeanne, R.L., Clarke, S.R., Jones, G.R., Morgan, E.D., Francke, W. & Turillazzi, S. (2000). Chemical characterization of the alarm pheromone in the venom of Polybia occidentalis and of volatiles from the venom of P. sericea. Physiological Entomology, 25: 363-369.

Downing, H.A. & Jeanne, R.L. (1983). A description of the ectal mandibular gland in the paper wasp Polistes fuscatus (Hymenoptera Vespidae). Psyche, 89: 317-320.

Downing, H.A., Post, D.C. & Jeanne, R.L. (1985). Morphology of sternal glands in male polistine wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Insectes Sociaux, 32: 186-197.

Fudge, D.S. (2014). Fifty years of J. R. Platt’s strong inference. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 217: 1202-1204.

Howard, K.J. & Jeanne, R.L. (2004). Rates of brood development in a social wasp: effects of colony size and parasite infection. Insectes Sociaux, 51: 179-185.

Howard, K.J., Smith, A.R., O’Donnell, S. & Jeanne, R.L. (2002). Novel method of swarm emigration by the epiponine wasp, Apoica pallens (Hymenoptera Vespidae). Ethology, Ecology and Evolution, 14: 365-371.

Hurd, C.R., Jeanne, R.L. & Nordheim, E.V. (2007). Temporal polyethism and worker specialization in the wasp, Vespula germanica. Journal of Insect Science, 7: 1-13.

Jandt, J.M. & Jeanne, R.L. (2005). German yellowjacket (Vespula germanica) foragers use odors inside the nest to find carbohydrate food sources. Ethology, 111: 641-651.

Jandt, J.M., Riel, L., Crain, B. & Jeanne, R.L. (2005). Vespula germanica foragers do not scent-mark carbohydrate food sites. Journal of Insect Behavior, 18: 19-31.

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Jeanne, R.L. (1996). Regulation of nest construction behaviour in Polybia occidentalis. Animal Behaviour, 52: 473-488.

Jeanne, R.L. (2003). Social complexity in the Hymenoptera, with special attention to the wasps. In: Genes, behaviors and evolution of social insects. T. Kikuchi, N. Azuma & S. Higashi (Eds). Sapporo, Japan Hokkaido University Press: 81-130.

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Jeanne, R.L., Downing, H.A. & Post, D.C. (1983). Morphology and function of sternal glands in polistine wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Zoomorphology, 103: 149-164.

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Jeanne, R.L. & Keeping, M.G. (1995). Venom spraying in Parachartergus colobopterus: A novel defensive behavior in a social wasp (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Journal of Insect Behavior, 8: 433-442.

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London, K.B. & Jeanne, R.L. (1997). Site selection by a social wasp in a nesting association (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Journal of Insect Behavior, 10: 279-288.

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London, K.B. & Jeanne, R.L. (2003). Effects of colony size and stage of development on defense response by the swarm-founding wasp Polybia occidentalis. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 54: 539-546.

London, K.B. & Jeanne, R.L. (2005). Wasps learn to recognize the odor of local ants. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, 78: 134-141.

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O’Donnell, S., Hunt, J.H. & Jeanne, R.L. (1997). Gaster-flagging during colony defense in Neotropical swarm-founding wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae, Epiponini). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 70: 175-180.

O’Donnell, S. & Jeanne, R.L. (1992). Forager success increases with experience in Polybia occidentalis (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Insectes Sociaux, 39: 451-454.

O’Donnell, S. & Jeanne, R.L. (1993). Methoprene accelerates age polyethism in workers of a social wasp (Polybia occidentalis). Physiological Entomology, 18: 189-194.

O’Donnell, S. & Jeanne, R.L. (1995). The roles of body size and dominance in division of labor among workers of the eusocial wasp Polybia occidentalis. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, 68: 43-50.

O’Donnell, S. & Jeanne, R.L. (1995). Worker lipid stores decrease with outside-nest task performance in wasps implications for the evolution of age polyethism. Experientia, 51: 749-752.

O’Donnell, S. & Jeanne, R.L. (2002). The nest as fortress: defensive behavior of Polybia emaciata (Hymenoptera: Vespidae), a mud-nesting eusocial wasp. Journal of Insect Science, 2: 3-5.

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Post, D.C., Downing, H.A. & Jeanne, R.L. (1984). Alarm response to venom by social wasps Polistes exclamans and P. fuscatus (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Journal of Chemical Ecology, 10: 1425-1433.

Post, D.C. & Jeanne, R.L. (1983). Sternal glands in males of six species of Polistes (Fuscopolistes) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, 56: 32-39.

Post, D.C. & Jeanne, R.L. (1983). Venom: source of a sex pheromone in the social wasp Polistes fuscatus (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Journal of Chemical Ecology, 9: 259-266.

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Post, D.C. & Jeanne, R.L. (1985). Sex pheromone in Polistes fuscatus (Hymenoptera Vespidae) effect of age, caste, and mating. Insectes Sociaux, 32: 70-77.

Post, D.C., Mohamed, M.A., Coppel, H.C. & Jeanne, R.L. (1984). Identification of ant repellent allomone produced by social wasp Polistes fuscatus (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Journal of Chemical Ecology, 10: 1799-1807.

Pratte, M. & Jeanne, R.L. (1984). Antennal drumming behavior in Polistes wasps (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie-Journal of Comparative Ethology, 66: 177-188.

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Schueller, T.I. & Jeanne, R.L. (2012). Cue-mediated recruitment in a swarm-founding wasp: successful foragers induce nestmates to search off nest for a scented carbohydrate resource. Psyche, 2012: 1-10.

Schueller, T.I., Nordheim, E.V., Taylor, B.J. & Jeanne, R.L. (2010). The cues have it; nest-based, cue-mediated recruitment to carbohydrate resources in a swarm-founding social wasp. Naturwissenschaften, 97: 1017-1022.

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Sonnentag, P.J. & Jeanne, R.L. (2009). Initiation of absconding-swarm emigration in the social wasp Polybia occidentalis. Journal of Insect Science, 9: 1-11.

Suryanarayanan, S., Hermanson, J.C. & Jeanne, R.L. (2011). A mechanical signal biases caste development in a social wasp. Current Biology, 21: 231-235.

Taylor, B.J., Brus, E.J. & Jeanne, R.L. (2012). Introduction of a scented carbohydrate resource into the nest increases departure rate in Polybia occidentalis. Insectes Sociaux, 59: 151-157.

Taylor, B.J. & Jeanne, R.L. (2018). Gastral drumming: a nest-based food-recruitment signal in a social wasp. Science of Nature, 105: 1-9.

Taylor, B.J., Nordheim, E.V. & Jeanne, R.L. (2012). Allocation of colony-level foraging effort in Vespula germanica in response to food resource quantity, quality, and associated olfactory cues. Ethology, 118: 594-605.

Taylor, B.J., Nordheim, E.V., Schueller, T.I. & Jeanne, R.L. (2011). Recruitment in swarm-founding wasps: Polybia occidentalis does not actively scent-mark carbohydrate food sources. Psyche, 2011: 7.

Taylor, B.J., Schalk, D.R. & Jeanne, R.L. (2010). Yellowjackets use nest-based cues to differentially exploit higher-quality resources. Naturwissenschaften, 97: 1041-1046.

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Published

2022-04-22

How to Cite

Jeanne, R. L. (2022). My Life as a Curious Naturalist. Sociobiology, 69(1), e7715. https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v69i1.7715

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Review