Imperial College London
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DrPeterGraystock

Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Life Sciences

Lecturer in Human and Animal Health
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 2255p.graystock Website

 
 
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Location

 

2.4MunroSilwood Park

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Southon:2015:10.7717/peerj.848,
author = {Southon, RJ and Bell, EF and Graystock, P and Sumner, S},
doi = {10.7717/peerj.848},
journal = {PeerJ},
title = {Long live the wasp: adult longevity in captive colonies of the eusocial paper wasp Polistes canadensis (L.)},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.848},
volume = {3},
year = {2015}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Insects have been used as an exemplary model in studying longevity, from extrinsic mortality pressures to intrinsic senescence. In the highly eusocial insects, great degrees of variation in lifespan exist between morphological castes in relation to extreme divisions of labour, but of particular interest are the primitively eusocial insects. These species represent the ancestral beginnings of eusociality, in which castes are flexible and based on behaviour rather than morphology. Here we present data on the longevity of the primitively eusocial Neotropical paper wasp P. canadensis, in a captive setting removed of environmental hazards. Captive Polistes canadensis had an average lifespan of 193 ± 10.5 days; although this average is shorter than most bee and ant queens, one individual lived for 506 days in the lab—longer than most recorded wasps and bees. Natal colony variation in longevity does exist between P. canadensis colonies, possibly due to nutritional and genetic factors. This study provides a foundation for future investigations on the effects of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on longevity in primitively eusocial insects, as well as the relationship with natal group and cohort size.
AU  - Southon,RJ
AU  - Bell,EF
AU  - Graystock,P
AU  - Sumner,S
DO  - 10.7717/peerj.848
PY  - 2015///
SN  - 2167-8359
TI  - Long live the wasp: adult longevity in captive colonies of the eusocial paper wasp Polistes canadensis (L.)
T2  - PeerJ
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.848
UR  - http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000352297200007&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/63231
VL  - 3
ER  -
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