Dyanamics of Social Queues

TL;DR

This paper models the dynamics of social queues in wasps using a stochastic process, revealing how division of labor extends nest lifetime and boosts productivity.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of a transient quasi-birth-and-death process to analyze social queue dynamics in wasps.

Findings

Extended nest lifetime significantly increases productivity.

Division of labor impacts social queue stability.

Model provides insights into social hierarchy effects.

Abstract

Queues formed by social wasps to inherit the dominant position in the nest are analyzed by using a transient quasi-birth-and-death process. We show that the extended nest life time due to division of labor between queen and helpers has a big impact for the nest productivity.