Angiopolybia pallens
Angiopolybia pallens | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Hymenoptera |
Family: | Vespidae |
Subfamily: | Polistinae |
Genus: | Angiopolybia |
Species: | A. pallens
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Binomial name | |
Angiopolybia pallens (Lepeletier, 1836)
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Angiopolybia pallens is a
Taxonomy and phylogeny
The
Description and identification
Angiopolybia pallens are distinguished by the ombre-like progression from yellow to black on their bodies. They have four legs that progress from a lighter yellow to a dark orange. The wasp's body is skinny with the back coming to a point.[4] Their wings are slim and black. The slim wings cause A. pallens to fly low and for short distances. This means that their foraging area is limited to about 1,800 square meters.[1] The workers, queens and intermediates of the colony are almost indistinguishable with the queens only occasionally being larger in size.[4]
The nest of A. pallens is generally in a funnel shape with a downward facing entrance. The nest is usually attached to a leaf by a central pedicle. In general the nest is strategically placed at a diagonal in order to provide more coverage from a leaf. The nest is usually made from a mixture of salivary secretions and vegetal fibers.[8] All social wasps use plant fiber as the primary material in the construction of their nests.[4]
Distribution and habitat
Angiopolybia pallens is predominantly found in
Colony cycle
The colony cycle begins with the pre-emergence phase where the queen and a few adult workers establish a new nest. The queen already has been fertilized and is able to produce a few workers in the beginning in order to best assist with the building of the nest. The swarm starting the nest is mostly made up of adults that are already mature before the next nesting cycle begins. Then once the nesting cycle begins, the
Foraging behavior
Angiopolybia pallens has exhibited a unique feeding pattern compared to most social wasps in a variety of ways. They are more active in the daytime compared to many other wasp species. These wasps tend to be most active at collecting nectar between 7 and 8 am, collecting prey between 10 and 11 am and collecting pulp for nest building generally happens before foraging. In general, other wasp species were found to start their activity later in the day and end earlier.[1] A. pallens are usually the initial wasps present at the site of an animal carcass trap set by Silveira in an experiment conducted to study the wasps feeding patterns.[3] The wasps also tend to collect nectar, prey and pulp in almost equal percentages. Other social wasps tend to focus on the collection of glucidic kinds of foods.[1] This behavior still perplexes scientists.
Carrion Feeding
Angiopolybia pallens have shown high prevalence of carrion feeding in Brazil. When compared to six other species of wasps, they made up 43.5% of the wasps that approached a carcass. The wasps do not transport pieces of flesh to the nest but instead consume at the feeding site, and the eaten food is subsequently regurgitated to other workers in the nest. The wasps also are more likely to consume carrion from July to December, which are the drier months of the year. It has been claimed that this wasp is the most important carrion consuming wasp in South America.[3] An additional behavior that A. pallens exhibit is the interaction with other wasps and ants when feeding on carcasses. A. pallens are typically the first wasps to rush an animal carcass but are typically displaced when another bigger wasp species approaches the carcass. However, the wasps will hover over ants occasionally darting downwards toward them causing the ants to flee. The wasps will then land on that particular area of the carcass and feed. They continue to intimidate the ants preventing the encroachment on their space by raising their wings and darting towards the ants. In this way the wasps are successful at obtaining food from carcasses even in the presence of ants.[7]
Swarming behavior
Communication
Once they have found a new nest site, A. pallens convey this information to other workers and intermediates through glandular secretions from their antennae. They make upward runs of several centimeters long on vertical surfaces providing a road map of sorts for the adult wasps to follow. The front body of the wasp will angle slightly upward while the
Ants and nest selection
The two primary causes of nest mortality for A. pallens and other social wasps is predation and inclement weather. Therefore, the wasps attempt to find a location that will both protect them from bad weather as well as bar any access for predators.
Queen intermediate conflict
The wasps in A. pallens colonies can be broken up into three groups: queens, intermediates, and workers. These groups are distinguished by whether they are mated or
Morphological appearance
In females who are workers and intermediates the ovaries are all in the same stage, making them almost morphologically identical. The queen's ovaries can be distinguished by the presence of
Genetic diversity
There has been significant genetic differentiation found in A. pallens populations across the
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Dantas da Cruz, Jucelho (2006). "Daily Activity Resources Collection by the Swarm Founding Wasp Angiopolybia pallens (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)". Sociobiology. 47 (3): 829–842.
- ^ .
- ^ S2CID 84852028.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Gelin, Luiz (December 2008). "Morphological Case Studies in the Neotropical Swam-Founding: Polistinae Wasp Angiopolybia pallens (Lepeltier) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)". Systematics Morphology and Physiology: 691–702.
- ^ PMID 1162347.
- ^ PMID 24446290.
- ^ JSTOR 2388911.
- ^ S2CID 33724478.
- PMID 19393979.