Fig. 4.

Summary statistics from two sets of simulations (n = 15 runs each) illustrate both the consistency of results and the model’s response to changes in average food level. Open and solid circles are the means of the two sets; vertical lines are standard errors. (A) The development time for large larvae is long and has a high standard error at low food levels, and both development time and standard error decrease with increasing food. In Polistes, larval developmental time is inversely correlated with the duration of the pupal stage (14), although total development time is longer for individuals that develop under low food conditions. (B) The time from the start of the simulation until the peak of gynes present on the nest has high variance at low levels and reaches a maximum at an intermediate food level. (C) The number of gynes produced increases with increasing food level. Arrows indicate the same food level, and in (B) and (C), also denote the simultaneous occurrence of the longest time until peak gyne production and the highest standard error in the number of gynes produced.