The performance of dominance indices for constructing dominance hierarchies in mischocyttarus and polistes wasps (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)

Abstract

A common problem during the construction of dominance hierarchies is the occurrence of tied ranks that make it difficult to find correlations between the dominance hierarchy and other biological variables. Among the factors that affect the ability of indices to give unique ranks are the noninteracting pairs of individuals and reversals. Based on these two factors, researchers have compared the performance of dominance indices, among them, the Clutton-Brock index (CBI), an index that measures wins and losses with quality values between pairs of individuals and does not consider the number of wins and losses; the David's score (DS), that corrects for this drawback in one way by considering the proportion of the wins and losses of each individual; and the frequency-based dominance index (FDI), which also consists of a modification of the CBI by considering the frequencies of direct and indirect wins and losses. Since there is no universal index for all interaction networks, comparing different indices could be a helpful step before selecting one for use. Additionally, studies on Polistes and Mischocyttarus have used different, non-standardized and subjective ways to access dominance hierarchies. In this study, we first described the proportion of non-interacting pairs and reversals in colonies of the social wasps Mischocyttarus cassununga, Mischocyttarus Cerberus, Polistes simillimus and Polistes versicolor. Then, the efficiencies of 3 dominance indices, CBI, DS and FDI in given unique ranks (absence of tied ranks) were compared.