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1. Nest-founding paper wasps aggregate in “social leks” and decrease aggression during partner selection

   https://doi.org/10.1093/cz/zoaf041  

   Laub, Emily C; Ewing, Maxwell C; Baldwin, Erin R; Pinter-Wollman, Noa; Tibbetts, Elizabeth A (July 2025, Current Zoology)

   Huang, Zu-Shi (Ed.)

   Abstract Many animals live in cooperative social groups. The success of social animals is thought to be influenced by both an animal's own characteristics and by the characteristics of its social partners. As a result, some social animals may devote substantial time and energy to assessing potential partners. Here, we study the process of social group formation in Polistes fuscatus paper wasps. Prior to founding nests, wasps engage in extended social partner sampling where they synchronously “shop” for co-foundresses. We quantify wasp behavior during partner sampling using day censuses and recording aggregations. We found that wasps preferentially aggregated at specific locations, without resources or nests, consistent with the formation of a “social lek.” In aggregations, wasps engaged in a range of aggressive interactions. At the beginning of the shopping period, wasps engaged in more intensely aggressive behavior and they observe conspecifics fight. Later in the shopping season, wasps engaged in less aggressive behavior. Overall, P. fuscatus devote substantial time and energy to a period of partner selection prior to nest foundation that is suggestive of lekking. 

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2. Geographic variation in individual face learning based on plasticity rather than local genetic adaptation in Polistes wasps

   https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arad100  

   Simons, Meagan; Green, Delbert A; Tibbetts, Elizabeth A (January 2024, Behavioral Ecology)

   While, Geoffrey (Ed.)

   Abstract Signals and receiver responses often vary across a species’ geographic range. Effective communication requires a match between signal and receiver response, so there is much interest in the developmental mechanisms that maintain this link. Two potential mechanisms are genetic covariance between signal and receiver response and plasticity where individuals adjust their phenotype based on their partner’s phenotype. Here, we test how plasticity contributes to geographic variation in individual face recognition in Polistes fuscatus wasps. Previous work has shown that P. fuscatus from Michigan, USA (MI) have variable facial patterns used for individual recognition, while P. fuscatus from central Pennsylvania, USA (PA) lack variable facial patterns and are unable to learn individual conspecifics. We experimentally altered rearing environment, so wasps were either reared with their own population or in a common garden with wasps from both populations. Then, we tested the wasps’ capacity to learn and remember individual conspecific faces. Consistent with previous work, MI wasps reared with MI wasps were adept at learning conspecific faces, while PA wasps reared with PA wasps were unable to learn conspecific faces. However, MI and PA wasps reared in a common garden developed similar, intermediate capacity for individual face learning. These results indicate that individual face learning in Polistes wasps is highly plastic and responsive to the social environment. Plasticity in receiver responses may be a common mechanism mediating geographic differences in non-sexual signaling systems and may play a role in maintaining links between signals and receiver responses in geographically variable communication systems. 

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3. Individual recognition is associated with viewpoint-independent face recognition in a species-specific way

   https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2025.2045  

   Tibbetts, Elizabeth A; Weise, Chloe; Pardo-Sanchez, Juanita; Vi, An Na (October 2025, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences)

   Identifying three-dimensional signals (e.g. faces) can be challenging because the signals appear different when seen from different viewpoints. One simple solution is to always view signals from a particular viewpoint. A more flexible but also more cognitively challenging solution is viewpoint-independent recognition, where receivers can identify signals from multiple viewing angles. Here, we use same/different concept learning to test viewpoint-independent recognition for conspecific and heterospecific faces in two species ofPolistespaper wasps that have three-dimensional visual signals.P. fuscatususe conspecific facial patterns for individual recognition, whileP. dominulause conspecific facial patterns as a signal of fighting ability. Previous work has shown thatP. fuscatusare able to identify novel viewpoints of conspecific faces through extrapolation. Here, we show thatP. fuscatusandP. dominuladiffer in their capacity for viewpoint-independent recognition.P. fuscatusexhibit viewpoint-independent recognition for bothP. fuscatusandP. dominulafaces. In contrast,P. dominulado not have viewpoint-independent recognition for conspecific or heterospecific faces. These results suggest that viewpoint-independent recognition through extrapolation may be an adaptive strategy to facilitate individual face recognition across a wide range of taxa. 

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4. Viewpoint-independent face recognition via extrapolation in paper wasps

   https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.247661  

   Tibbetts, Elizabeth A; Weise, Chloe; Pardo-Sanchez, Juanita; Vi, An Na (September 2024, Journal of Experimental Biology)

   ABSTRACT Visual recognition of three-dimensional signals, such as faces, is challenging because the signals appear different from different viewpoints. A flexible but cognitively challenging solution is viewpoint-independent recognition, where receivers identify signals from novel viewing angles. Here, we used same/different concept learning to test viewpoint-independent face recognition in Polistes fuscatus, a wasp that uses facial patterns to individually identify conspecifics. We found that wasps use extrapolation to identify novel views of conspecific faces. For example, wasps identify a pair of pictures of the same wasp as the ‘same’, even if the pictures are taken from different views (e.g. one face 0 deg rotation, one face 60 deg rotation). This result is notable because it provides the first evidence of view-invariant recognition via extrapolation in an invertebrate. The results suggest that viewpoint-independent recognition via extrapolation may be a widespread strategy to facilitate individual face recognition. 

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5. Evidence for a selective link between cooperation and individual recognition

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.11.032  

   Tumulty, James P; Miller, Sara E; Van_Belleghem, Steven M; Weller, Hannah I; Jernigan, Christopher M; Vincent, Sierra; Staudenraus, Regan J; Legan, Andrew W; Polnaszek, Timothy J; Uy, Floria MK; et al (December 2023, Current Biology)

   The ability to recognize others is a frequent assumption of models of the evolution of cooperation. At the same time, cooperative behavior has been proposed as a selective agent favoring the evolution of individual recognition abilities. Although theory predicts that recognition and cooperation may co-evolve, data linking recognition abilities and cooperative behavior with evidence of selection are elusive. Here, we provide evidence of a selective link between individual recognition and cooperation in the paper wasp Polistes fuscatus through a combination of clinal, common garden, and population genomics analyses. We identified latitudinal clines in both rates of cooperative nesting and color pattern diversity, consistent with a selective link between recognition and cooperation. In behavioral experiments, we replicated previous results demonstrating individual recognition in cooperative and phenotypically diverse P. fuscatus from New York. In contrast, wasps from a less cooperative and phenotypically uniform Louisiana population showed no evidence of individual recognition. In a common garden experiment, groups of wasps from northern populations formed more stable and individually biased associations, indicating that recognition facilitates group stability. The strength of recent positive selection on cognition-associated loci likely to mediate individual recognition is substantially greater in northern compared with southern P. fuscatus populations. Collectively, these data suggest that individual recognition and cooperative nesting behavior have co-evolved in P. fuscatus because recognition helps stabilize social groups. This work provides evidence of a specific cognitive phenotype under selection because of social interactions, supporting the idea that social behavior can be a key driver of cognitive evolution. 

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