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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Nest Hydrocarbons As Cues For Philopatry In A Paper Wasp, Annagiri Sumana, Aviva Liebert, Anne Berry, Ghislaine Switz, Colin Orians, Philip Starks
Nest Hydrocarbons As Cues For Philopatry In A Paper Wasp, Annagiri Sumana, Aviva Liebert, Anne Berry, Ghislaine Switz, Colin Orians, Philip Starks
Aviva E Liebert
Philopatric behavior has been demonstrated in a wide taxonomic spread of animals. In temperate environments, overwintered Polistes wasp foundresses often return to their natal nest prior to initiating colony construction. Previous research has shown that these spring foundresses can identify the natal nest in the absence of landmark and gross morphological cues. Hydrocarbons are essential recognition cues for Polistes nest and nestmate discrimination, but cuticular hydrocarbon profiles can become homogenized when foundresses overwinter in mixed colony groups. We examined the hydrocarbon profiles of Polistes dominulus foundresses and nests before and after an overwintering period, and found that the hydrocarbon profiles …
Extreme Polygyny: Multi-Seasonal “Hypergynous” Nesting In The Introduced Paper Wasp Polistes Dominulus, Aviva Liebert, Julia Hui, Peter Nonacs, Philip Starks
Extreme Polygyny: Multi-Seasonal “Hypergynous” Nesting In The Introduced Paper Wasp Polistes Dominulus, Aviva Liebert, Julia Hui, Peter Nonacs, Philip Starks
Aviva E Liebert
In temperate climates, female paper wasps typically initiate new colonies in the spring. Several nest-founding tactics have been documented in Polistes species, including solitary nest initiation, joining a cooperative association, usurping an existing nest, or adopting an abandoned nest. Occasionally, exceptionally large groups of females have also been found reusing nests from the previous season. Here we report this phenomenon in introduced populations of the Eurasian species Polistes dominulus. We describe in detail the demographic and genetic characteristics of one such spring colony from Los Angeles, California, USA, which was collected with 84 associated adults and all stages of developing …
Solitary Nesting And Reproductive Success In The Paper Wasp Polistes Aurifer, Aviva Liebert, Peter Nonacs, Robert Wayne
Solitary Nesting And Reproductive Success In The Paper Wasp Polistes Aurifer, Aviva Liebert, Peter Nonacs, Robert Wayne
Aviva E Liebert
Female Polistes paper wasps are capable of independent nesting, yet many populations demonstrate a mixture of solitary and cooperative nest foundation. Previous studies of Polistes have found survival and/or productivity advantages of cooperative nest foundation compared to solitary nesting, and reproductive skew models have been designed to predict the dynamics of such flexible cooperation. In this paper, we examine the success of different nesting strategies in a previously unstudied population of Polistes aurifer in southern California. The colony cycle of this population is less synchronous than that of other temperate species, and the frequency of solitary nesting averages 86.2%. Our …
Ground Nesting In The Paper Wasp Polistes Aurifer (Hymenoptera: Vespidae), Aviva Liebert
Ground Nesting In The Paper Wasp Polistes Aurifer (Hymenoptera: Vespidae), Aviva Liebert
Aviva E Liebert
Polistes paper wasp species vary in their nest site selection, with some nesting in relatively exposed areas and others in protected cavities. Locating the nest sites of cavity dwelling species in natural habitat can prove difficult, and most behavioral studies on these species are therefore conducted using human-built structures. Since Hungerford and Williams (1912) and Rau (1929) noted the location of several P. fuscatus (Fabricius) nests in rodent burrows, there have been no published accounts of ground nesting Polistes species. I report the occurrence of a large, dense cluster of P. aurifer (Saussure) nests located within cracks in the dried …