Deuteragenia ossarium
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Deuteragenia ossarium |
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| Staab , Ohl , Zhu & Klein , 2014 |
Deuteragenia ossarium is a wasp from the subfamily Pepsinae . Like most wasps, it builds brood cells in cavities in which itdepositsparalyzed spiders . It lays its eggs on the captured spiders in order to ensure that the offspring have a suitable source of food. However, Deuteragenia ossarium is the only known species of wasps thatstacksdead ants in the antechamber next to their brood cells, presumably to deter intruders. TheEnglish-language name Bone-house Wasp (German ' Beinhaus- Waspe') was suggestedas a common name by the first descriptors in 2014. This wasp is only known from a small area in southeast China .
description
The adult sawfly shows the typical appearance of the genus Deuteragenia : it is uniformly black in color, the forewings of the females have black spots. The physique is slim. The sexually mature females have a body length of 8.9–15.2 millimeters, the males are 6.6–9.8 millimeters long.
Deuteragenia ossarium is similar to Deuteragenia conspersa , which is known from Korea and Japan . However, at least on the mandibles , antennae , tarsal limbs and the first tergite, this shows a rust-brown color, while D. ossarium is almost entirely black. The tergites of the second to sixth segment of the abdomen have long, brownish bristles in D. conspersa , but short, silvery bristles in the ossuary wasp D. ossarium .
In the males of Deuteragenia ossarium , the head shield (clypeus) is ivory-colored with a black spot at the base.
distribution
The way wasp Deuteragenia ossarium was discovered during research on the ecology of the way wasps in the Gutianshan National Nature Reserve , a nature reserve in the Zhejiang Province in southeast China. No further occurrences have been detected so far (as of mid-2014).
Way of life
As part of the research in Gutianshan, the wasps were offered small tubes as nesting sites, like in an insect box . These consisted of pile pipe ( Arundo donax ), which was inserted into horizontally lying plastic pipes at a height of approx. 1.5 meters. 829 such pile tubes were collected again, they contained a total of 1929 brood cells. The larvae of sawfly , digger wasps and solitary wasps developed in these brood cells .
Most wasps that create several brood cells leave one cell empty in the entrance area. The function of this "vestibule" is not fully understood. It could not be proven that the breeding rooms are better protected from intruders by this anteroom than buildings without empty cells. At most, the empty spaces have a function in regulating the temperature and in protecting against direct weather influences.
In a total of 73 of the nests examined, the antechamber was not empty but filled with dead ants. In the total of 213 brood cells in these nests, the larvae of a hitherto unknown species of wasps developed, which was later called Deuteragenia ossarium . The vestibular cells of the nests of Deuteragenia ossarium contained up to 13 dead animals from a total of nine different ant species. The most common of the species brought in by the wasps was Pachycondyla astuta from the ant subfamily of the ancient ants (Ponerinae), which have a poisonous sting . This species was represented in a total of 25 of 26 randomly selected nests, 90 of the 126 ants examined in these cells belonged to this species, which corresponds to more than 70 percent. Other common species were the closely related Pachycondyla chinensis , the scale ant Polyrhachis illaudata and Gnamptogenys panda from the subfamily of the Ectatomminae with ten specimens each.
Systematics
The genus Deuteragenia and the tribe Deuterageniini were described by Šustera in 1912. After Deuteragenia had been considered a subgenus of Dipogon for a long time , the genus and the tribe were re-established in 2012.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Charnel-house wasp uses dead ants as a protective wall . APA , Natur und Technik, July 3, 2014, accessed July 10, 2014
- ↑ a b c d Michael Staab, Michael Ohl, Chao-Dong Zhu, Alexandra-Maria Klein: A Unique Nest-Protection Strategy in a New Species of Spider Wasp. PLoS ONE 9, 7, e101592, 2014 doi : 10.1371 / journal.pone.0101592 E-Paper, Open Access, English
- ↑ Karsten Seidelmann: The function of the vestibulum in nests of a solitary stem-nesting bee, Osmia rufa (L.) . Apidologie, 30, pp. 19-29, 1999
- ↑ Lelej AS, Loktionov VM: Phylogeny and classification of the tribe Deuterageniini (Hymenoptera, Pompilidae: Pepsinae). Far East Ent 254, pp. 1-15, 2012
literature
- Michael Staab, Michael Ohl, Chao-Dong Zhu, Alexandra-Maria Klein: A Unique Nest-Protection Strategy in a New Species of Spider Wasp. PLoS ONE 9, 7, e101592, 2014 doi : 10.1371 / journal.pone.0101592 E-Paper, Open Access (first description)
Web links
- Newly discovered wasp species: Creepy nursery , Spiegel Online Wissenschaft, July 4, 2014, accessed on July 16, 2014