Mountain Field Wasp Cuckoo Wasp
| Mountain Field Wasp Cuckoo Wasp | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Polistes atrimandibularis | ||||||||||||
| Zimmermann , 1930 |
The mountain wasp cuckoo wasp ( Polistes atrimandibularis , syn .: Sulcopolistes atrimandibularis ) is a hymenoptera from the family of the wasps (Vespidae).
features
The wasp reaches a body length of 15 to 18 millimeters (females) or 12 to 18 millimeters (males). The face of both sexes is markedly black below the antennae base, but this coloration can be greatly reduced in the males. In the male, the mandibles are black, rarely with a small yellow spot. In the female, however, the yellow markings along the inner edge of the eye are usually connected to the yellow crossbar above the antenna deflection points. The median lobe of the clypeus is clearly set back when viewed from the side and does not run in an arch, in the middle it has a pointed protrusion. As with all socially parasitic Polistes species (the former subgenus Sulcopolistes ), the mandibles are very strong, bulging forward, with a flattened outside. In this species, the mandible has a relatively narrow edge on the dorsal surface (above), the impression on the mandible is significantly flatter than in the related species.
Polistes maroccanus , an endemic to Morocco, is very similar . Their males are so far unknown. The biology and way of life of this species is also unknown.
Occurrence
The species is widespread in southern Europe and southern central Europe and occurs up to about 2800 meters above sea level. Sunny habitats are settled in which their host , the mountain field wasp ( Polistes biglumis ) occurs. In the Mediterranean region, the species prefers higher, cooler habitats. To the east it occurs as far as Turkey, Armenia and Iran.
Way of life
The mountain field wasp cuckoo wasp lives as a social parasitic on the nests of the mountain field wasp. Nests of medium development, in which a few workers have already hatched, are preferred. The female parasite appears very passively and sluggishly in order not to be killed by the host queen or her workers. Little by little it becomes dominant in relation to the host queen, clasping her with her front legs and feeling her with the antennae. Eventually it climbs on the queen and shows its sting without inserting it. At the same time, pheromones are released so that the host queen submits and either leaves the nest or takes on the role of a worker. Due to its dominance, the female parasite is finally also accepted as the new queen by the host workers. She first eats the host queen's eggs and occupies free cells with her own eggs. It happens that a female controls several nests in this way, but only one nest is used to raise her own offspring. Only eggs and larvae are stolen from the neighboring nests and fed to their own brood. The lids of the cells of parasitized nests are strikingly white in color.
For a southern European population of the species it is stated that it accepts three other host species in addition to the mountain wasp Polistes biglumis , Polistes dominulus , Polistes nimphus and Polistes associus . Apparently it is a uniform population, there are no indications of different specialized forms (host races). Polistes atrimandibularis may be able to utilize a wider host range than the other cuckoo wasps due to its smaller body size.
supporting documents
literature
- Rolf Witt: Wasps. Observe, determine. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-89440-243-1 .
- Christian Schmid-Egger, Kees van Achterberg, Rainer Neumeyer, Jérôme Morinière, Stefan Schmidt (2017): Revision of the West Palaearctic Polistes Latreille, with the descriptions of two species - an integrative approach using morphology and DNA barcodes (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). ZooKeys 713: 53-112. doi: 10.3897 / zookeys.713.11335 (open access).
- Rita Cervo (2006): Polistes wasps and their social parasites: an overview. Annales Zoologici Fennici 43: 531-549.
Individual evidence
- ^ Rita Cervo, Maria Cristina Lorenzi, Stefano Turillazzi (1990): Sulcopolistes atrimandibularis, Social Parasite and Predator of an Alpine Polistes (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Ethology 86: 71-78.
- ↑ D. Fanelli, R. Cervo, S. Turillazzi (2001): Three new host species of the social wasp parasite, Polistes atrimandibularis (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Insectes Sociaux 48: 352-354.
- ↑ D. Fanelli, M. Henshaw, R. Cervo, S. Turilazzi, DC Queller, JE Strassmann (2005): The social parasite wasp Polistes atrimandibularis does not form host races. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 18: 1362-1367. doi: 10.1111 / j.1420-9101.2005.00927.x