Summary: A new study reveals how social insect colonies withstand the violent upheaval that follows the loss of a queen. Focusing on tropical paper wasps (Polistes canadensis), researchers found that removing the queen sparks immediate social breakdown and aggressive fights as workers compete for reproductive dominance. Yet colonies often survive because a subset of peaceful individuals—called “compensators”—withdraw from conflict and intensify foraging and brood care, keeping the colony functioning during the turmoil.
When a queen disappears, wasp societies can fragment quickly. This research shows that survival does not always depend on orderly succession or strict rules; instead, some individuals shift roles strategically to sustain the group while others wage conflict over leadership.
Key Facts
- The tropical context: Unlike many temperate wasp species with stable hierarchies and predictable succession, tropical paper wasp colonies often include many females that retain the capacity to reproduce, making succession much more volatile.
- Rapid social disruption: Experimental removal of queens in Panama produced an immediate escalation of aggressive interactions. Cooperative social networks broke down as multiple high-ranking workers fought for dominance.
- Compensators stabilize the colony: Despite widespread conflict, colonies persisted because some wasps avoided fighting and instead increased their effort on crucial tasks such as foraging and caring for the brood.
- Strategic behavior, not fixed biology: Compensators were not biologically distinct from fighters, suggesting their roles reflect flexible, strategic choices rather than predetermined castes.
- Data re-analysis: These conclusions were reached through a modern re-examination of detailed behavioural records collected during earlier fieldwork in Panama.
- Revising succession theory: The findings challenge the long-standing view that cooperative societies require orderly, rule-based succession to remain stable; aggression-driven succession can be viable when non-competing individuals compensate for the costs of conflict.
Source: UCL
When queen loss triggers a power struggle, helpful non‑fighting wasps can keep colonies alive, a new UCL-led study finds.
Published in the journal Animal Behaviour, the study documents how individual variation in response to queen removal helps tropical paper wasp colonies maintain essential functions. In the Caribbean species Polistes canadensis, many females live and work together while reproduction is dominated by a single queen; however, other females remain physiologically capable of breeding and may contest succession when the queen is gone.
To test colony responses, researchers experimentally removed queens from established nests in Panama and monitored behaviour. The immediate result was intense disruption: aggressive interactions rose sharply and affiliative networks dissolved as multiple workers engaged in violent contests for the reproductive role. Succession was not a simple, orderly transition but a period of widespread conflict involving many group members.
Crucially, colonies did not fall apart. The team identified a subset of individuals—termed compensators—that avoided aggression and instead redirected their efforts into provisioning and brood care. These compensators increased foraging and feeding of developing young, sustaining the colony’s basic needs while the hierarchy was contested.
Because compensators did not show clear biological differences from fighters, the researchers interpret their behaviour as a flexible strategy. Some wasps appear to gamble on the high-risk, high-reward path of fighting for future reproduction; others take a lower-risk strategy by protecting the current brood—often their siblings—thereby preserving the group’s immediate fitness.
Lead author Dr Owen Corbett (UCL Centre for Biodiversity & Environment Research, UCL Biosciences) commented that the conflict following queen removal was severe but incomplete: “While some individuals fought over dominance, others completely avoided the conflict and quietly stepped up to keep the colony running. Cooperation didn’t disappear; it was redistributed.”
This research expands understanding of reproductive succession by studying a less orderly, aggression-driven system rather than the well-studied temperate species with rigid dominance rules. The results underscore that cooperative animal societies can tolerate internally violent succession when compensatory behaviours by non-competing members reduce the costs to the group.
Senior author Professor Seirian Sumner (UCL Centre for Biodiversity & Environment Research, UCL Biosciences) adds: “Understanding how animal societies manage conflict can help us think differently about cooperation more broadly. In times of turmoil, society depends on those who keep doing the essential work in the background. In many ways, we may be more like wasps than we realise.”
Funding: The research was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Smithsonian Institution.
Key Questions Answered:
A: The behaviour appears to be an evolutionary trade‑off: fighters accept greater risk for a chance at exclusive reproduction, while compensators choose a safer strategy focused on ensuring the brood’s survival. By keeping larvae fed and nests maintained, compensators protect the colony’s immediate reproductive output, which often includes their relatives.
A: The findings challenge the assumption that violence-driven succession necessarily dooms cooperative societies. Instead, they show that cooperation can persist through redistribution: when a quiet group of workers absorbs the costs of upheaval, aggression-based succession can be a sustainable strategy.
A: The study highlights the importance of background contributors during crises. In human societies, as in wasp colonies, stability in times of leadership turmoil often depends on those who continue essential work rather than those engaged in high‑visibility power struggles.
Editorial Notes:
- This article was edited by a Neuroscience News editor.
- The journal paper was reviewed in full.
- Additional context was added by staff.
About this neuroscience and social behaviour research news
Author: Sophie Hunter
Source: UCL
Contact: Sophie Hunter – UCL
Image: Image credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access. “Compensation of labour by non-competitive individuals mitigates costs of aggressive succession contest in a tropical social wasp” by Owen R. Corbett, Stephanie Dreier, Thibault Lengronne, Solenn Patalano, Max Reuter, and Seirian Sumner. DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2026.123581
Abstract
Compensation of labour by non-competitive individuals mitigates costs of aggressive succession contest in a tropical social wasp
Cooperative breeders raise young through a division of labour among parents and helpers, with reproduction monopolized by one or a few individuals, even though many group members are capable of breeding. Reproductive succession—when a subordinate replaces the dominant breeder—creates significant conflict in these societies. Various mechanisms have evolved to mitigate such conflict and maintain group cohesion.
This study examined the aggression-based succession system of the tropical paper wasp Polistes canadensis. By characterizing aggressive interactions and provisioning behaviours in queenright colonies and experimentally removing queens, the research tracked individual and group behavioural changes during succession. Social networks initially broke down and many members engaged in intense aggression after queen loss. Nevertheless, provisioning and affiliative networks persisted because previously less-active individuals shifted into foraging and caregiving roles. Compensation by non-competing group members therefore mitigated the costs of aggression-based succession.
These results support the idea that aggression-driven reproductive succession can remain stable when compensatory mechanisms prevent colony failure, adding nuance to our understanding of how cooperative breeders resolve leadership conflicts.