Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
- Institution
- Publication
- Publication Type
- File Type
Articles 1 - 10 of 10
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Taming Of The Skew: Transactional Models Fail To Predict Reproductive Partitioning In The Paper Wasp Polistes Dominulus, Aviva Liebert, Philip Starks
Taming Of The Skew: Transactional Models Fail To Predict Reproductive Partitioning In The Paper Wasp Polistes Dominulus, Aviva Liebert, Philip Starks
Aviva E Liebert
Female Polistes paper wasps can initiate colonies either solitarily or in cooperative groups. Reproduction is often distributed unequally in groups, even to the point of complete monopolization of breeding by the dominant group member. Transactional models of reproductive skew predict the degree of reproductive partitioning, assuming that the dominant controls group membership and will yield a proportion of reproduction to a subordinate as an incentive to stay peacefully in the group. Using a combination of demographic, genetic and morphological data from a population of P. dominulus, we test predictions of 'classical' two-person skew models as well as more complex …
Sexual Interactions And Nestmate Recognition In Invasive Populations Of Polistes Dominulus Wasps, Aviva Liebert, N Wilson-Rich, C Johnson, Philip Starks
Sexual Interactions And Nestmate Recognition In Invasive Populations Of Polistes Dominulus Wasps, Aviva Liebert, N Wilson-Rich, C Johnson, Philip Starks
Aviva E Liebert
Many social insect species have mating systems or recognition abilities that minimize the chance of inbreeding. In haplodiploid systems, inbreeding is especially costly due to the production of sterile offspring such as diploid males. Diploid males (and their triploid offspring) have been identified in invasive populations of the paper wasp, Polistes dominulus, but to date have not been reported in its native populations. Due to the degree of genetic diversity in the invasive populations, it is unlikely that the production of these genetic ‘misfits’ is the result of a genetic bottleneck alone, but rather that errors in nestmate recognition may …
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 …
Diploid Males And Their Triploid Offspring In The Paper Wasp Polistes Dominulus, Aviva Liebert, Annagiri Sumana, Philip Starks
Diploid Males And Their Triploid Offspring In The Paper Wasp Polistes Dominulus, Aviva Liebert, Annagiri Sumana, Philip Starks
Aviva E Liebert
Although the hymenopteran sex-determining mechanism generally results in haploid males and diploid females, diploid males can be produced via homozygosity at the sex-determining locus. Diploid males have low fitness because they are effectively sterile or produce presumably sterile triploid offspring. Previously, triploid females were observed in three species of North American Polistes paper wasps, and this was interpreted as indirect evidence of diploid males. Here we report what is, to our knowledge, the first direct evidence: four of five early male-producing Polistes dominulus nests from three populations contained diploid males. Because haploid males were also found, however, the adaptive value …
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 …
Interactions Between Pieris Oleracea And Pieris Rapae (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) Butterflies, And The Biological Control Agents Cotesia Glomerata And Cotesia Rubecula (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)., Megan V. Herlihy
Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014
Pieris oleracea, formerly Pieries napi, was once a widespread pierid butterfly in New England until the introduction of a biological control agent, Cotesia glomerata. It has been suggested that C. glomerata is responsible for the range reduction of P. oleracea. There are been several introductions of a second more specialized biological control agent, Cotesia rubecula, to the United States since the 1960’s. My first goal was to determine the current distribution and status of P. rapae parasitoids and the effectiveness of C. rubecula as a biological control agent since its release. The findings of a survey …
Taxonomy And Systematics Of New Zealand Faronitae (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae), Jong-Seok Park
Taxonomy And Systematics Of New Zealand Faronitae (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae), Jong-Seok Park
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
The New Zealand Faronitae was revised at the species level, and a phylogenetic study was performed based on morphological and molecular data. Eight new genera and 143 new species were discovered. Three new genera, “Brounea”, “Ahnea” and “Pseudoexeirarthra” were designated based on the species originally described in the genus Sagola. Five new genera, “Aucklandea”, “Chandlerea”, “Nunnea”, “Leschenea” and “Pseudostenosagola” were designated by new species. Three known genera, Exeirarthra, Stenosagola and Sagola were also revised at species level. Eighty four names were synonymized, two in Exeirarthra, four in Stenosagola and 78 in Sagola. Lectotypes of seven species, Sagola terricola Broun, S. …
The Phylogenetics Of Tachinidae (Insecta: Diptera) With An Emphasis On Subfamily Structure, Daniel J. Davis
The Phylogenetics Of Tachinidae (Insecta: Diptera) With An Emphasis On Subfamily Structure, Daniel J. Davis
Browse all Theses and Dissertations
The parasitoid flies of the Tachinidae family are an important and diverse (>10,000 species) lineage of insects. However, tachinids are not well studied partially due to their confusing classification and taxonomy. DNA sequences were obtained from twenty tribal representatives of Tachinidae, along with eight outgroups in order to phylogenetically reconstruct the superfamilial, subfamilial and tribal relationships of Tachinidae. Seven gene regions of six genes (18S, 28S, COI, CAD, Ef1a, and TPI) were sequenced for each taxon (6214 bp total). Both maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods were used to infer phylogenies. The Sarcophagidae and Oestridae were usually reconstructed as monophyletic. …