A population study in Jamaica on adult Sceliphron assimile (Dahlbom) (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae)

Abstract.

• 1 A mark–recapture study on the sphecid wasp Sceliphron assimile (Dahlbohm), analysed by Jolly's stochastic method (1965), was made from 3 December 1974 to 22 February 1975 at Green Bay, St Catherine, Jamaica.
• 2 Population levels in an 18.2 ha study area fluctuated about a mean of 281 for males, 259 for total females and 87 for reproducing females, while the probable carrying-capacity for these reproductives was about 104.
• 3 Mean estimated daily survival rates were 0.903 for males, 0.924 for total females and 0.945 for reproducing females. For the first two categories these rates decreased (p < 0.02) during the study, probably reflecting increasing emigration. Reproducing females probably do not emigrate and their survival did not significantly decrease.
• 4 Minimum age was linearly related to wing wear (r=+0.69, P < 0.001) and the latter associated with the progressive maturation and ageing of the ovaries. All surviving females become parous by middle age.
• 5 The mean rate of fecundity in the field was dependent on female age and was reduced during prolonged drought. Curves of total achieved fecundity appropriate to realistic survival rates give 4.2–16.8 eggs/female. The Jamaican mean was 9.6 ± 2.3 and that for Green Bay 8.6.
• 6 The proportion of females in the Green Bay population was 0.48 ± 0.03 while 0.55 was expected at emergence.
• 7 A cyclic budget is used to estimate immigration and emigration, and these were important causes of population change.
• 8 For Jamaica, only an estimated 28% of females survived to nest.

     

Trophallaxis in a primitively social sphecid wasp

Summary In a total of six hours of observation of severalMicrostigmus nigrophthalmus nests with two or more adult wasps, nine buccal contacts, six between females and three between females and males were observed. Except for two cases, these occurred soon after one of the females involved (the apparent donor) had returned to the nest and involved transfer from older to younger individuals. Experimental feeding of colored solution confirmed the occurrence of trophallaxis. InM. nigrophthalmus, trophallaxis seems to have arisen as a prolongation of maternal care since food is transferred from an older to a younger individual.     

The natural history of the mud-dauber wasp Sceliphron fistularium (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) in southeastern Brazil

Nests of Sceliphron fistularium were obtained in Colombia and Moji Gua?u, S?o Paulo, Brazil. Complete nests consisted of 1 to 54 sausage-shaped cells, arranged side by side along a horizontal axis, and found attached to electrical wires (Colombia, n = 7) and walls (Colombia, n = 4 and Moji Gua?u, n = 4). The number of cells per nest ranged from 1 to 54, their length varying from 20.8 to 29.7 mm, and their diameter from 7.6 to 11.7 mm. Brood cells were provisioned with spiders of the family Araneidae. Only Alpaida veniliae was collected in Colombia, whereas the most frequent species found in Moji Gua?u was Micrathena swainsoni (62.0%) followed by M. acuta (23.3%). Adults emerged from June to October. The length and diameter of female and male cells were similar. Nevertheless, females were significantly larger than males. The sex ratio of individuals obtained from nests was 1.16 females: 1 male. A life table was constructed, and details of the life cycle of the wasps and parasitoids are presented. The most common mortality factors were either unknown or due to the parasitoid wasp Melittobia sp.     

Escape from parasitism: spatial and temporal strategies of a sphecid wasp against a specialised cuckoo wasp

Parasites and parasitoids exert an important selection pressure on organisms and, thus, play an important role for both population dynamics and evolutionary responses of host species. We investigated host-parasite interactions in a brood-caring wasp, the European beewolf, Philanthus triangulum (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae), and asked whether females of this species might employ temporal or spatial strategies to reduce the rate of attack by a specialised brood parasitoid, the cuckoo wasp Hedychrum rutilans (Hymenoptera, Chrysididae). Females of the host species might shift their activity to periods of low parasitoid activity both in the course of the season and in the course of the day. On a spatial scale, aggregated or dispersed nesting might be favoured depending on the form of the density dependence of parasitism. The beginning and end of the flight season of host and parasitoid were nearly identical. Activity of chrysidids relative to beewolves did not change significantly during the flight season. However, relative parasitoid activity declined in the course of the day, suggesting the existence of temporal enemy-free space in the evening hours. Shifting the main activity to the evening hours might be a flexible response of beewolves to the presence of chrysidids. Activity of cuckoo wasps per nest was independent of nest density but the actual rate of parasitism as revealed by nest excavations indicated direct density dependence. Total mortality, however, was inversely density dependent. Thus, in the study population aggregated nesting did not reduce parasitism but minimised total mortality.     

Endothermic warm-up in two species of sphecid wasp and its relation to behaviour

Abstract. The ability of two sphecid wasps, Bembix rostrata and B.zonata (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae), to warm up endothermically is demonstrated under laboratory conditions. Mean warm-up rates of B.rostrata are comparable to bees of similar weight. Despite endothermic ability, field observations reveal that B.rostrata are not active below 22C. From observations at the nectar-foraging site (clumps of Thymus vulgaris flowers) it is calculated that the energy resources available to wasps are sufficient to power endothermic warm-up at low temperatures. Alternative explanations for the absence of wasp activity at low temperatures, such as the risk of parasitism, are suggested. Endothermy may be used periodically to increase flight efficiency in response to added load, such as prey carried by females, and mates by males.     

Size and sex of cricket prey predict capture by a sphecid wasp

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Male size does not affect territorial behaviour and life history traits in a sphecid wasp

The optimum maternal investment per offspring is determined by the relationship between the investment per offspring and offspring fitness. In the European beewolf, Philanthus triangulum, a solitary mass-provisioning sphecid wasp, offspring size correlates with the amount of provisions. We investigated whether the reproductive success of adult males depends on body size in a way that would influence the allocation of parental investment. Since the mating success of P. triangulum males cannot be determined by observation in the field, we assessed the influence of male size on characteristics of their territories, territorial behaviour and life history traits. Territory size was weakly correlated with male size, but a measure of territory quality (number of female nests in the vicinity) was independent of male size. Neither the duration of ownership nor the intensity of scent marking was correlated with male size. Territory owners were slightly smaller than nonterritorial males. The absolute amount of fat was positively correlated with size but, owing to allometric relationships, the energetic equivalent of the fat store appeared to be independent of size. Life span was not significantly influenced by body size under four different conditions (with and without food in the laboratory, in an outdoor flight cage and in the field). We discuss the discrepancy between these results and other studies that have mostly reported advantages to large males. We suggest that in noncontact male-male interactions, as seen in the European beewolf, body size might not be the key determinant for success in contests. We conclude that there is no evidence for a strong size dependence of male reproductive success. Thus the reproductive success of male progeny probably does not depend on parental investment in a way that would influence the investment allocation of females. Copyright 2000 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.     

Nearnest behavior of a solitary muddaubing wasp,Sceliphron caementarium (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae)

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Abstract. 1. Cerceris arenaria (L.) females nest in sandy burrows, foraging for prey weevils to stock cells in which eggs are laid. Nests are easily distinguished and observed, and tunnel diameter correlates well with the occupying females' size (range 68–128 mg).
2. Foraging depends on ambient temperature and occurs only during periods of insolation. Large females can forage earlier in the day, and usually make a greater number of successful trips per day, than smaller ones.
3. Size differences of females affect heat exchange and resultant temperature excesses (T_ex). At the highest ambient temperatures T_ex for the largest wasps can exceed physiological tolerances, thus reducing foraging activity relative to the smaller females.
4. On very hot days wasps forage more frequently for nectar, probably to reduce their water deficits. Larval water balance is controlled less directly, by the architecture of burrows and the nature of cell walls and contents.
5. Temperature effects on foraging and nesting bring about a roughly two-fold increase in success as cell provisioners (and hence egg-layers) of larger over smaller females. Possible countering effects of very hot weather and of parasitism, either of which might favour small females in some conditions, are discussed.     

The comparative distribution and population dynamics in Trinidad of Sceliphron fistularium (Dahlbom) and S. asiaticum (L.) (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae)

Two sphecid wasps, Sceliphron asiaticum (L.) and S. fistularium (Dahlbom), which build mud nests and capture spider prey, had overlapping but distinctly different distributions in Trinidad. Sceliphron asiaticum was associated with drier (<2000 mm mean annual precipitation) and less forested areas. The analysis of existing data on these species revealed a similar differential distribution throughout the neotropics. Based on the dissection of their old nests collected at 42 sites in Trinidad, retrospective life tables were constructed and estimates of fecundity made. Sceliphron asiaticum tended to form denser nesting associations and, while most of the common parasitoids were shared, had overall higher developmental mortality. Although such mortality was density-dependent in both species, where the two wasps nested together mortality from Melittobia (Eulophidae, Chalcidoidea) was higher in S. asiaticum . Both species were protarrhenotokous and had similar field fecundities (7–8/♀), but the rate of oviposition may be greater in S. asiaticum since far less mud was used in the construction of its cells. Both species had >50° mortality of the females between emergence and starting to nest. The regulation of numbers of these wasps in relation to that of S. assimile (Dahlbom) in Jamaica is discussed.     

Change in behaviour of the cockroach, Periplaneta americana, after being stung by the sphecid wasp Ampulex compressa

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Résumé La guêpe solitaire aculéate, Ampulex compressa Fabr. n'inflige en général à sa proie, la blatte Periplaneta americana L., que deux piqûres: l'une thoracique au niveau d'un patte prothoracique; la seconde dans le cou, au niveau du ganglion sousoesophagien. La première piqûre provoque une paralysie immédiate, complètement réversible en moins d'une minute. Les piqûres doubles provoquent également une paralysie, mais réversible dans un délai de plusieurs minutes. Au surplus, la deuxième piqûre influence irréversiblement le comportement de la blatte, qui présente un état léthargique mais est tout à fait capable de se déplacer rapidement après une stimulation des mécanorécepteurs cercaux par un léger souffle d'air au niveau du cerque.

     

Nesting ecology of the wasp Sceliphron destillatorium (Illiger, 1807) (Hymenoptera,Sphecidae) in the Crimea

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Ultrastructure meets reproductive success: performance of a sphecid wasp is correlated with the fine structure of the flight-muscle mitochondria

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Abstract. 1. The nesting biology of the solitary potter wasp Eumenes alluaudi was studied on Cousin Island, Seychelles.
2. Although the rainy season was from October to April there was no indication of strong seasonality in the wasps' nesting.
3. Females tended to nest close to where other females were nesting.
4. The mean number of cells per nest was 3.71, the mean number of nests made per female 135, and the percentage of cells from which adults emerged 65.87; thus the mean number of adult wasps emerging from the nest(s) of each breeding female was 3.29.
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6. Daily mortality of nesting females was estimated as 0.088.
7. The mean interval between a female's emergence and her starting to nest was 19.7 days.
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