Variation in the quality of Vespula vulgaris (L.) queens (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) and its significance in wasp population dynamics

Abstract

Density‐related variation in queen quality has been proposed as a possible mechanism regulating population fluctuations in Vespula species. We investigated annual variation in the quality (size, weight, and fat content) of adult V. vulgaris queens representing four stages of their life cycle (spring, founding, developing, and emerged) taken from six sites in beech forest, South Island, New Zealand. For each queen the dry weight, head width, and thorax length was measured. For a subsample of queens, the fat content was determined by ether extraction. The size of queen cells was measured from a subsample of nests. Size, weight, and fat content of queens varied between wasp colonies and sites. The smallest juvenile queens were under‐represented in the reproductive population. There was no direct link between body size and food supply. Size and weight of developing queens increased as the number of cells in the nest increased. The size of the queen cells varied significantly among layers in a nest and among nests. The under‐representation of small queens in the reproductive population suggests that queen quality may affect survival and/or competitive ability by increasing winter fat storage, nest building activity, and/or success in usurpation disputes.     

Co‐occurrence of defensive traits in the potato aphid Macrosiphum euphorbiae

1. Insecticide usage selects strongly for resistance in aphid populations, but this could entail fitness costs in other resistance traits. The potato aphid Macrosiphum euphorbiae Thomas exhibits intraspecific variation in susceptibility to parasitism by braconid wasps and provides a suitable species to study the relation between the defensive traits of parasitism and insecticide resistance. 2. Clonal lines (23 in total) of M. euphorbiae were established from aphids collected in 2013 from geographically separate populations in the U.K. Clonal lines belonged to five aphid genotypes, but one genotype predominated (78% of samples), and the facultative endosymbiont Hamiltonella defensa was detected in c. 40% of lines. 3. Total esterase activity in aphid tissues varied significantly between aphid genotypes and collection areas, but there was no clear pattern in relation to H. defensa infection or between collection sites likely to differ in insecticide pressures. 4. Five clonal lines representing low to moderate levels of enzyme activity, which included different aphid genotypes and presence/absence of H. defensa infection, were assayed for their susceptibility to the parasitoid wasp Aphidius ervi Haliday. Aphid mummification varied significantly between aphid genotypes, with low values in one genotype of aphids irrespective of H. defensa presence. 5. The results revealed that aphid lines belonging to the parasitism‐resistant genotype exhibited moderate levels of total esterase activity, indicating a competitve advantage for this genotype of M. euphorbiae when exposed to chemical and biological control factors in agroecosystems.     

Interactions between the parasitoid wasp Dinocampus coccinellae and two species of coccinellid from Japan and Britain

The establishment, spread and increase of the invasive coccinellid Harmonia axyridis Pallas in North America and Britain have coincided with declines in native ladybirds. In Britain, this pattern was predicted soon after H. axyridis was first recorded. However, predictions of the impact that H. axyridis may have on the parasites, parasitoids and pathogens of native coccinellids have been less certain, largely because of uncertainty over whether H. axyridis would become an alternate host for such agents. Dinocampus coccinellae (Schrank) is a braconid parasitoid of ladybirds of the sub-family Coccinellinae. In Japan, this wasp uses both Coccinella septempunctata brucki Mulsant and H. axyridis as hosts, but successfully parasitizes a higher proportion of the former species. Data are here presented that indicate the same is true in Britain, but to a greater extent. This study investigates the interactions of D. coccinellae with C. septempunctata L. and H. axyridis from Japan and Britain. We show that coccinellid activity affects encounter rates with the wasp, with H. axyridis being more active than C. septempunctata in the tests. Escalation rates from investigation to ovipositional attack were higher for C. septempunctata than H. axyridis for both Japanese and British wasps. Wasp emergence was higher, relative to ovipositional attack, from C. septempunctata than from H. axyridis. Wasps did not discriminate between Japanese and British ladybirds of the same species. British wasp eclosion rates were higher from Japanese than from British H. axyridis. We consider both the effect D. coccinellae may have on H. axyridis population demography, and the effect H. axyridis may have on D. coccinellae in Europe.     

Eicosanoids mediate melanotic nodulation reactions to viral infection in larvae of the parasitic wasp, Pimpla turionellae

Nodulation is the quantitatively predominant insect cellular immune function activated in response to bacterial, fungal and some viral infections. We posed the hypothesis that parasitoid insects express melanotic nodulation reactions to viral challenge and that eicosanoids mediate these reactions. Treating fifth-instar larvae of the ichneumonid endoparasitoid Pimpla turionellae with Bovine Herpes Simplex Virus-1 (BHSV-1) induced nodulation reactions in a challenge dose-dependent manner. Experimental larvae treated with the cyclooxygenase inhibitor, indomethacin, the lipoxygenase inhibitor, esculetin, and the phospholipase A2 inhibitor, dexamethasone, resulted in severely impaired nodulation reactions to our standard BHSV-1 challenge dose. The immunoinhibitory influence of dexamethasone was reversed in larvae reared on culture medium amended with arachidonic acid, the fatty acid precursor of eicosanoid biosynthesis. Larvae that had been reared on media amended with indomethacin, esculetin, or dexamethasone were also compromised in their nodulation reactions to viral challenge. The influence of the orally administered pharmaceutical was expressed in a dose-dependent manner. Finally, wasp larvae reared in the presence of indomethacin and dexamethasone expressed significantly decreased levels of phenoloxidase activity in response to viral challenge. These findings draw attention to the idea that endoparasitoid insects express cellular immune reactions to viral challenge; they also support our hypothesis that eicosanoids mediate nodulation reactions to viral challenge in these highly specialized insects.     

Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci from three cryptic species of Ceratosolen emarginatus

From an enriched (AG)_n/(AC)_n library, we developed nine polymorphic microsatellite loci for three cryptic species of the fig‐pollinating wasp Ceratosolen emarginatus. We genotyped one population for each of the three cryptic species across all the nine loci. In total, 204 alleles were detected from the three cryptic species of C. emarginatus. The observed heterozygosity was 0.755 ± 0.034, 0.653 ± 0.030 and 0.603 ± 0.073 in C. emarginatus populations A, B and C, respectively; the expected heterozygosity was 0.850 ± 0.031, 0.724 ± 0.035 and 0.702 ± 0.104, respectively. No linkage disequilibrium was found between any two loci of all three cryptic species. The newly isolated microsatellite markers will be very useful for estimating the genetic variation within and among the cryptic species and for revealing the mechanisms of speciation and inbreeding coexistence hypothesis of the cryptic species.     

杀虫双对梭毒隐翅虫捕食功能的影响

梭毒隐翅虫Paederus fuscipes Curtis是一种重要的天敌昆虫.在室内条件下,采用浸渍法测定了18%高效杀虫双在田间常用最低浓度时,对梭毒隐翅虫成虫死亡率和捕食功能的影响.试验结果表明,18%高效杀虫双对梭毒隐翅虫的致死作用及捕食功能影响均较小,但对残存个体捕食功能的影响超过致死作用.     

A role of the Dufour's gland in the dominance interactions of the paper wasp,Polistes fuscatus (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

The Dufour's gland of the paper wasp, Polistes fuscatus,is a source of the cues used by dominant females to recognize the eggs laid by subordinates or nonnestmates on pre (worker)-emergence nests. When dominant wasps were presented with an egg covered with either (1) the Dufour's gland extract of a subordinate cofoundress, (2) the extract of an egg from the same subordinate, or (3) the solvent alone, the dominant female destroyed and replaced the eggs covered with the Dufour's extract significantly more frequently than the other eggs. Eggs with the extract of a nonnestmate's Dufour's gland were also eaten significantly more frequently than those with the solvent. Given similar choices, subordinates did not destroy any eggs. The Dufour's gland appears to have little or no role in communicating dominance directly among aggressively interacting cofoundresses.     

一种捕食螨饲养观察装置

【目的】为在室内防止捕食螨逃逸,设计一种防止逃逸行为的饲养观察装置。【方法】对比研究了传统隔水式饲养装置和改进型装置在防止逃逸行为中的效果,及改进型装置对捕食螨发育及繁殖能力有无影响。【结果】改进型装置通过添加瓶塞、棉线、盖玻片组成密闭小室,可有效防止捕食螨的逃逸,逃逸率仅为3.3%。另外,使用该装置后的捕食螨生长发育及繁殖等能力与隔水式饲养法相比未受到显著影响。【结论】本文设计的饲养观察装置可在捕食螨生物学、生态学及农药抗性等基础研究中应用。     

人工饲料饲养的叉角厉蝽对昆虫的捕食能力评价

叉角厉蝽Eocanthecona furcellate(Wolff)是广泛分布于热带亚热带地区的一种重要捕食性天敌昆虫。为评估人工饲料饲养的叉角厉蝽的捕食能力,在实验室采用捕食功能反应的方法,以黄粉虫作为中介猎物饲养的叉角厉蝽为对照,评价了人工饲料饲养的叉角厉蝽3龄若虫、5龄若虫以及雌成虫对黄粉虫Tenebriomolitor(L.)幼虫及斜纹夜蛾Spodoptera litura(Fabricius)3龄幼虫、5龄幼虫的捕食效能。结果表明,两种饲料饲养的不同虫态叉角厉蝽的捕食量均随着猎物密度的增加而上升,当猎物密度增加到一定水平,捕食量趋于稳定,其捕食功能反应均符合HollingII模型。人工饲料组饲养的各虫态叉角厉蝽与对照组的对黄粉虫幼虫的捕食量没有明显差异;在饱和猎物密度条件下,人工饲料饲养的叉角厉蝽3龄若虫、5龄若虫以及雌成虫对斜纹夜蛾3龄幼虫的日最大捕食量分别为7.20、9.20、14.60头,对斜纹夜蛾5龄幼虫的日最大捕食量分别4.20、5.80、6.20头,均略低于对照组,但从取食猎物数量上来看,仍保持较强的捕食能力。     

Insects and incest: Sib‐mating tolerance in natural populations of a parasitoid wasp

Sib‐mating avoidance is a pervasive behaviour that is expected to evolve in species subject to inbreeding depression. Although laboratory studies provide elegant demonstrations, small‐scaled bioassays minimize the costs of mate finding and choice, and thus may produce spurious findings. We therefore combined laboratory experiments with field observations to examine the existence of inbreeding avoidance using the parasitoid wasp Venturia canescens. In the laboratory, our approach consisted of mate‐choice experiments to assess kin discrimination in population cages with competitive interactions. A higher mating probability after sib rejections suggested that females could discriminate their sibs; however, in contrast to previous findings, sib‐mating avoidance was not observed. To compare our laboratory results to field data, we captured 241 individuals from two populations. Females laid eggs in the lab, and 226 daughters were obtained. All individuals were genotyped at 18 microsatellite loci, which allowed inference of the genotype of each female's mate and subsequently the relatedness within each mating pair. We found that the observed rate of sib‐mating did not differ from the probability that sibs encountered one another at random in the field, which is consistent with an absence of sib‐mating avoidance. In addition, we detected a weak but significant male‐biased dispersal, which could reduce encounters between sibs. We also found weak fitness costs associated with sib‐mating. As such, the sex‐biased dispersal that we found is probably sufficient to mitigate these costs. These results imply that kin discrimination has probably evolved for purposes other than mate choice, such as superparasitism avoidance.