New research indicates facial recognition abilities evolved relatively rapidly – in the last few thousand years – suggesting that the wasps’ increasing intelligence provided an incredible evolutionary advantage. This new research also sheds light on how intelligence evolves in general, which has implications for many other species – including humans.
A team led by Cornell researchers used population genomics to study the evolution of cognition in the Northern paper wasp (Polistes fuscatus). The resulting paper, “Evolutionary dynamics of recent selection on cognitive abilities,” published Jan. 24 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“The big question we want to explore is how complex traits evolve. What is the mode and tempo of cognitive evolution?” said Michael Sheehan, the Nancy and Peter Meinig Family Investigator in the Life Sciences, and assistant professor in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior. “The really surprising conclusion here is that the most intense selection pressures in the recent history of these wasps has not been dealing with climate, catching food or parasites, but getting better at dealing with each other. That’s pretty profound.”
Many vertebrates can recognize individual faces, at least in some circumstances, but among insects, facial recognition is quite uncommon. In this new study, Sheehan and his colleagues explored how and when this ability evolved by analyzing patterns of genetic variation within species. “It’s kind of like 23andMe, but with paper wasps,” Sheehan said.
The few species of insects that can recognize faces share one trait: communal societies with multiple queens. In communal groups with a single queen, like honeybee colonies, the roles are clear and each individual knows its place. But paper wasps may have five or more queens in one nest, and facial recognition helps these queens’ negotiations with one another.
The queens form a hierarchy, with the dominant queen producing most of the offspring. Subordinate queens can stay and lay a few eggs or leave to build their own nests. But smaller nests are more likely to be attacked, get stolen or die off.