About the Project
The following electronic studio project on the social behavior of polistine wasps began as a tool to assist students at Rice University in their final Animal Behavior assignment. Based on research conducted by Dr. Joan Strassmann, Dr. Dave Queller, and many graduate students, Post Docs, and undergraduates, the project incorporated both data analysis and advanced data presentation. Based on responses from the students who worked on the first project, along with the work of Nicole Gerardo, an undergraduate who was in the Animal Behavior class, the Electronic Studio Project has broadened into an exploration of the processes of scientific research which can be presented to a wide audience.
n Introduction to the Project
The Social Behavior of Polistine Wasps Project is based on data collected on three nests located in Texas' Brazos Bend State Park with the permission of Texas Parks and Wildlife (Permit 36-93) in May 1994. The nests of Polistes bellicosus were videotaped over a four day period shortly after worker emergence. Before videotaping the nests, nearly every wasp was marked using spots of various colors of paint in order to distinguish individuals. In the first half of the videotaping period, nests were left undisturbed. After three days, the queen was removed and the nests were again videotaped.
After collecting the behavioral videotape, all wasps still on the nest were collected (missing wasps died between video and collection). Each of the marked wasps was assigned a number, photographed, and later dissected. Before dissection, the head size of each of the wasps was measured. Upon dissection, the ovaries of each of the wasps were removed and photographed. Following dissection, microsatellites were used to determine maternity and genetic relatedness.
In the following project, you will be expected to utilize components of all of the collected data in order to determine the social structure of the colony, the importance of variation amongthe wasps, and, if you have the videotapes of the nest, the effect of the social structure on individual behavior. Throughout the project, you should attempt to make connections between the various data. Scientists must continuously interpret data and be able to make connections between the results of different data, projects, and experiments. Once they make these connections, they are then expected to be able to coherently and precisely present their results. As science researchers, you should look at the questions as a stimulus for conducting your own research based on the data provided.
hy Study Wasps?
Animal Behavior is a complex subject. Each species has its own intrinsic behavior and social structure. Behaviors have evolved over the millenia subject to ecological and social pressures that might not be apparent today. Individual display varied behavior. Synthesis and interpretation of these actions and structures can be tedious without prior knowledge of possible models of behaviors. From a good introductory course in Animal Behavior one can learn a great deal about the evolutionary approach to behavior. An excellent complement to such a course is one's own virtual research project, one where the gels always work, the wasps never sting, and it never rains.