Spotting the top male: sexually selected signals in male Polistes dominulus wasps

► We tested whether dorsal abdominal spots of male Polistes dominulus wasps function as sexually selected signals. ► Males with smaller, more elliptical spots were more dominant and were preferred by females. ► Thus, male spot morphology functions as a signal in intra- and intersexual selection in this species. ► Our research serves as a starting point to develop social insects as models for studying lekking dynamics.