Spite and Punishment
Spite
is when a behaviour is both costly to perform and costly for the
receiver. This can be favoured by kin selection if the receiver is
negatively related to the actor. In terms of Hamilton's rule, RB-C>0
can be satisfied with a negative B and a positive C, if R is
sufficiently negative.
Our main findings include showing that:
- The conditions for the evolution of spite are
less restrictive then previously assumed. In particular, local
competition and kin discrimination can lead to appreciable negative
relatedness between interactants (Gardner & West 2004 J. Evol. Biol.).
- Empirical examples of spiteful behaviour include:
(A) Chemical warfare in microbes - bacteriocin and other anti microbial
compounds produced by bacteria to kill non relatives (Gardner et al
2004 Proc. Roy. Soc.). Above picture shows inhibition zones where strains meet
and bacteriocins
prevent either from growing, supplied by Angus Buckling. (B) the
sterile soldier caste in polyembryonic parasitoid wasps (Gardner &
West 2004 Science; Gardner et
al. 2007 Am. Nat.). See pictures below.
- Spiteful behaviours can be conceptualised in a
number
of ways - spite, indirect altruism, altruism. However, there are
biological
advantages to distinguishing spite from altruism (Gardner
et al. 2007 Am. Nat.).
- Punishment can be a way to stabilise cooperation
if there is a positive correlation between the punishment strategy of
an individual and the cooperation it receives (Gardner & West 2004 Am. Nat.).
Our future aims include: (i) developing specific models
for specific systems, such as polyembryonic wasps; (ii) develop an
experimental system for spite research, such as bacteriocin production.
This theoretical work is led by Andy Gardner. The bacteria work
involves collaboration with Angus Buckling (Oxford, UK).
Related Publications
- Gardner, A., Hardy, I.C.W., Taylor, P.D. & West.
S.A. (2007) Spiteful soldier
production
in polyembryonic parasitoid wasps. American Naturalist 169,
519-533.
- Gardner, A. & West. S.A. (2006) Spite. Current Biology
16, R662-R664.
- Gardner, A. & West, S.A. (2004) Cooperation and punishment,
especially
in humans. American Naturalist, 164, 753-764
- Gardner, A. & West, S.A. (2004) Spite among
siblings. Science, 305, 1413-1414. {PDF}
- Gardner, A. & West, S.A. (2004) Spite and the scale of
competition. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 17, 1195-1203. {PDF}
{Media}
- Gardner, A., West, S.A. & Buckling, A. (2004)
Bacteriocins, spite and virulence. Proceedings of the Royal Society
London Series B, 271, 1529-1535. {PDF} {Science perspective} {Media}
Copidosoma floridanum
- a spiteful polyembryonic wasp. Left:
Life cycle of a spiteful polyembryonic wasp - female wasp oviposits
into host egg (top); clonal proliferation of larvae within the
caterpillar host (middle); larvae develop either precociously (into
soldiers, bottom left) or normally (bottom right).
Right: Caught in the spiteful
act: a soldier ingests its fluorescently-labelled victim. Photos kindly
supplied by M. Strand, D. Giron and J. Johnson. See Gardner & West
(2004, Science) and Gardner
et al.
(2007 Am. Nat.) for further details.
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