Geographic differences in individual recognition linked with social but not nonsocial cognition

Cognition is a complex trait with multiple components that may vary independently or in concert. Thus far, we know little about how geographic differences in behavior are linked with different aspects of cognition. Behavioral differences could be linked with cognition in three ways: with multiple aspects of cognition, some but not other aspects of cognition, or no cognitive differences. Here, we compare cognitive performance in two populations of Polistes fuscatus wasps that differ in their capacity for individual face recognition. Individual recognition involves keeping track of multiple individual relationships and responding appropriately, so it is thought to increase social complexity. As a result, we predicted Michigan wasps that use individual recognition may have better cognitive performance than Pennsylvania wasps that are not able to individually recognize conspecifics. We find that Michigan wasps are more adept at individual face learning than Pennsylvania wasps. However, the ..., , # Geographic differences in individual recognition linked with social but not nonsocial cognition

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.t1g1jwtdn](10.5061/dryad.t1g1jwtdn)

## Description of the data and file structure

Paper wasps foundresses and their nests from Michigan, USA and Pennsylvania, USA were collected in June 2022 and 2023. They were brought back to the lab and reared in a growth chamber. Workers were individually marked as they emerged. Upon reaching maturity, workers were tested on either individual face learning, odor learning and memory, or initial color learning, memory, and reversal. These data were analyzed in R.

### Files and variables

#### File: MIPA\_Data\_Long\_20250220.csv

**Description:** The dataset used for the main manuscript and includes all the variables analyzed. Missing values are indicated by an NA.

##### Variables

* Population: The population from which the wasp belonged (Michigan [MI] or Pennsylvania [PA])
* WaspID: The individual identifier for each wasp...,