The Effects of Vibrational Cues on Physiological Development in Polistes fuscatus (paper wasps)
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The Symposium provides undergraduates from all academic disciplines with an opportunity to share their research with the university community and other guests through conference-style oral presentations. The Symposium represents part of a larger effort of Iowa State University to enhance, support, and celebrate undergraduate research activity.
Though coordinated by the University Honors Program, all undergraduate students are eligible and encouraged to participate in the Symposium. Undergraduates conducting research but not yet ready to present their work are encouraged to attend the Symposium to learn about the presentation process and students not currently involved in research are encouraged to attend the Symposium to learn about the broad range of undergraduate research activities that are taking place at ISU.
The first Symposium was held in April 2007. The 39 students who presented research and their mentors collectively represented all of ISU's Colleges: Agriculture and Life Sciences, Business, Design, Engineering, Human Sciences, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Veterinary Medicine, and the Graduate College. The event has grown to regularly include more than 100 students presenting on topics that span the broad range of disciplines studied at ISU.
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Abstract
Investigation into the causes and effects of behavior has advanced our knowledge of the effects of social interactions on an organism's physiology. In Polistes fuscatus, antennal drumming is usually performed by the queen on the cell walls of the nest after larvae reach the third instar. The "mechanical switch" hypothesis (Jeanne 2011) suggests that the drumming experienced by larvae early in the colony season causes them to develop into workers; whereas, later in the colony season, those that do not experience this drumming develop into queens. In this study I measured the distance between the source of an artificial vibration that simulates natural queen drumming and the location of developing larvae. If distance from the vibrational cue affects caste development, then those farther from the signal should develop with more queen-like physiology (measured in lipid “fat” content). Alternatively, if vibrational cues do not dampen as they pass through the nest, then distance should not correlate with physiology. The results of my study show that in our sample there was no correlation between lipid content and the distance between where the larva developed and the vibrational cue.