Phenotype is a dialogue between genetic and environmental factors. Many previous studies have shown that environmental conditions can change the phenotypes of developing individuals and social signals from parent to offspring are being increasingly investigated as drivers of alternative phenotypes. This developmental plasticity is especially important to eusocial insects such as the privately eusocial paper wasps Polistes fuscatus. The norther paper wasp, P.fuscatus produces workers early season and gynes late season, and the only categorical difference between how these offspring are reared is antennal drumming, a vibroacoustic signal generated by foundresses early season that produces a worker-like phenotype in adults. I examined the mechanism by which this signal is altering developmental trajectories. First, I constructed a developmental transcriptional atlas to provide high resolution expression information at each developmental stage. I also investigated the transcriptional dynamics and evolutionary age of a conserved set of caste associated genes in wasps. Nest I probed the transcriptional consequences of sustained antennal drumming on developing larvae, implicating ecdysone signaling and lipid metabolism before examining the initial cascade induced by a single antennal drumming bout under higher temporal and tissue resolution. After identifying several genes in the early and late cascade in head and bodies, all data suggested that developmental timing was affected. Finally, I tested this hypothesis directly and found that, indeed, antennal drumming was shortening larval development time leading to early pupation.