Data from: Socially selected ornaments and fitness: signals of fighting ability in paper wasps are positively associated with survival, reproductive success, and rank

Many animals have ornaments that mediate choice and competition in social and sexual contexts. Individuals with elaborate sexual ornaments typically have higher fitness than those with less elaborate ornaments, but less is known about whether socially selected ornaments are associated with fitness. Here, we test the relationship between fitness and facial patterns that are a socially-selected signal of fighting ability in Polistes dominula wasps. We found wasps that signal higher fighting ability have larger nests, are more likely to survive harsh winters, and obtain higher dominance rank than wasps that signal lower fighting ability. In comparison, body weight was not associated with fitness. Larger wasps were dominant over smaller wasps, but showed no difference nest size or survival. Overall, the positive relationship between wasp facial patterns and fitness indicates that receivers can obtain diverse information about a signaler's phenotypic quality by paying attention to socially selected ornaments. Therefore, there are surprisingly strong parallels between the information conveyed by socially and sexually selected signals. Similar fitness relationships in social and sexually selected signals may be one reason it can be difficult to distinguish the role of social versus sexual selection in ornament evolution.诸多动物都拥有可在社会与性选择情境中介导选择与竞争行为的装饰性状。拥有繁复精致性装饰性状的个体，其适合度（fitness）通常高于装饰性状较简单的同类，但目前针对社会选择装饰性状是否与适合度相关的研究仍较为匮乏。本研究针对多氏胡蜂（Polistes dominula）中作为打斗能力社会选择信号的面部斑纹与适合度之间的关联展开检验。研究结果显示，相较于传递较低打斗能力信号的个体，传递较高打斗能力信号的胡蜂拥有更大的巢群，更易在严酷冬季存活，且能获得更高的优势等级。相较而言，体重与适合度并无显著关联。体型更大的胡蜂相较于体型更小的个体占据优势地位，但二者在巢群规模与存活概率上并无显著差异。综上，胡蜂面部斑纹与适合度之间的正相关关系表明，信号接收者可通过关注社会选择装饰性状，获取信号发送者表型质量的多样信息。由此可见，社会选择信号与性选择信号所传递的信息之间，存在着远超预期的高度相似性。社会选择与性选择信号所呈现的相似适合度关联，或许正是难以区分二者在装饰性状演化中所发挥作用的原因之一。