The condition dependence and heritability of signaling and nonsignaling color traits in paper wasps.

Research on quality signal development typically focuses on signals with production costs; less is known about signals that lack production costs (conventional signals). Here, I test the condition dependence and heritability of the facial patterns that function as a conventional signal of quality in Polistes dominulus wasps. Two aspects of facial patterns are compared: (1) amount of black pigment (no signal value) and (2) disruption in the black pigment's distribution (quality signal). When colonies received the same diet, they produced offspring with similar facial patterns and both traits were heritable. However, experimental diet manipulation substantially influenced quality signal development. Wasps fed unlimited caterpillars developed more disrupted facial patterns than wasps fed a restricted diet. Further, signal heritability was obscured following the diet treatment. In contrast, the nonsignaling trait was not influenced by the diet treatment and remained heritable. Overall, the quality signal in P. dominulus is condition dependent and heritable, but its heritability may be obscured by environmental variance. The nonsignaling aspect of wasp facial patterns is not condition dependent and is more consistently heritable across environments. Therefore, the information a signal conveys may be influenced by its developmental properties rather than its honesty-ensuring cost or the pigments that constitute it.