she would win her dominant position through a show of aggression. Therefore, she would come from the caste of fighters. This impression turned out to be false. The queen in fact comes from the lazy rank of ‘sitters’ and until the time comes for her to assume the role, there is nothing to distinguish her from the others. “This is one of the nice things about research,” said Raghavendra, “there are always surprises.” That surprise raised another question, and to find out how a queen emerges, the researchers discovered that removing a reigning queen sparks off a higher level aggression within the colony. Aggression, said Raghavendra, can go up forty fold, and surprisingly all of this is caused by just one individual. This individual is the heir, and as soon as her position is secured, all aggression drops back down to its normal day-to-day level. Many experiments, repeated over and over, confirmed that there is always an heir apparent, ready to step forward to assume the position of queen. By deliberately splitting the colony into two, the researchers found that re-introducing the original queen caused the heir apparent to step back and return to the ranks. While a show of aggression was involved in becoming a queen, it was just a temporary phase. The queen, in effect, was above politics, and instead of her making demands, she got on with breeding, while the foragers and fighters regulated themselves. “This is a bottoms up approach,” said Raghavendra, “decentralised, and self-organised,” and this is where the normal low level of aggression comes into play.
A paper wasp tucking into its caterpillar prey observed at the Institute of Science, Bangladore.
When wasps are given more food than they need, they become less aggressive. This might seem a simple enough conclusion, but to test if it is true, Raghavendra’s doctoral students had to sit for hours gaining enough trust from the wasps to accept their offerings of food. Starving the wasps resulted in a rise of aggression, but as the researchers observed, it was directed exclusively at the foragers. As Raghavendra explained, aggression within a colony turns out to be a lot lower than expected, and the wasps avoid conflict among themselves, even when the researchers deliberately tried to provoke a row by removing, then reintroducing the queen. However, while peace is maintained at home, ou ?Y\????YH [?\?] X??H?[[??H ] ?[Z[?Y?Y?]?[? ?H??? Z\?x?&\? ?[X\?? ]8?']\?[Y[?X?H ] ??X??YHH??? ] ?[??H]\??X??YH[?[?[^H? H ?\??X[??[? ??'B??] ??Y][Y\?\ [?? ] ?\? ????H?ZY???\?[?????Y\? ? ?^H[?? H]?K?Y? ^H\?H [?[????Y?\?? ^H\?H[??Y[? ? ?] K[? ^HX^H]?[?[? \\?Z\?? ? H ]YY[??\ ?Y? ^H\?H?\? ^H\?H ?\?]Y \???\? ^H?Y\ ?[]?^H???H H]?K?]H ? ?^H ]YY[?\?[[YYX][ H] X??Y \?Y[X?\?Y[??[Y ?H ? ?X? ?[H\??H ]YY[?[??HZ\?[?[?H] [\ ???XZ? ] ?[H ?[?Z[ ??]\?H H ?X?X[ ]X[]Y\? ]\?[??Z\? HZ\????H[ H?\? ?\? ???Y?]?[? ?H ???? \\?[? ?8?' ?H??&]???8?'H[? \?\?????X??? ?Z[???H?\? ?\?X\?? ? Y[? ? ?[???\? YX\?? ?Z[?? ? ?? ?H ] ??[K?H?Y?]]?H ?\?[ H ?ZY ?[??H?\?\?[\?[?\?H ??]]?H?K?8?'?H??\?8?'KH ?ZY 8?'[? ?HY?X] ?]\?X?[??]?[??\? \\? H ]K??'?H?????? ] H ?\? ?8?&????&x?'HH ? ?[??HX?[] H? ?\? ? ? ?X???\?H[? [?\? ]YZ\? ?[XZ[??H^\?\?K ?X????X??Y?]?[? ?x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