1975] 
Hermann & Dirks — Polistes ananularis 
103 
nest the year before). Several nests in our study area had sibling 
wasps that originated from the same nest the year before. 
There was an extensive exchange of wasps between some of the 
nests that were established by sibling females. Wasps occasionally 
were also found to join females on unrelated nests. During the 
exchange of wasps on nests, acceptance of these females by the orig- 
inal females usually was the case, although there is more exchange 
among sibling than unrelated wasps. Apparently, there is not much 
exchange of wasps between the nests of P. canadensis (Eberhard, 
1969). 
Unilateral aggressiveness continues to a lesser degree in later stages 
of colony building. Usually, the dominant queen demonstrates a 
dominant posture over her peers and upon approaching these peers 
she often moves rapidly toward them in a jerky aggressive manner. 
Characteristics of a Dominant Female 
Once dominance is established by a single female, certain behavioral 
and anatomical changes occur in her and in the subordinate females. 
Anatomically, the reproductive system of the dominant female in- 
creases in size and she is able to increase her egg production. Simul- 
taneously, the reproductive system of the subordinate females atro- 
phies and they commence functioning as workers (Dirks and Her- 
mann, 1975a; Pardi, 1948). 
Behaviorly, the dominant female begins to “tail wag,” a phenom- 
enon not well understood at this time. Tail wagging may be demon- 
strated by a number of individuals on a nest or just by the dominant 
female. Workers also have been seen tail wagging on numerous oc- 
casions. When several cofoundresses all tail wag it always is the 
dominant female that is outstanding in her demonstration of it. 
Tail wagging produces several results: 1 ) it points out the dom- 
inant female and the subsequent subordinates; 2) it helps maintain a 
position for the tail wagging female in the dominance hierarchy; 
3) it appears to increase nest activity either audibly or visually; 
4) it indicates that workers really do enter into dominance reactions 
with fertile cofoundresses and other workers. 
The dominant female checks the cells periodically, and thus she 
investigates the larvae and deposits eggs in the new cells. This female 
also is responsible for most of the “smearing” (Hermann and Dirks, 
1974). She spends much of her time on the face of the nest during 
the day but at night she may either be on the face or on the nest 
pedicel. 
