Dolichovespula sylvestris
Tree wasp | |
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Dolichovespula sylvestris. Dorsal view | |
Side view | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Hymenoptera |
Family: | Vespidae |
Genus: | Dolichovespula |
Species: | D. sylvestris
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Binomial name | |
Dolichovespula sylvestris | |
D. sylvestris distribution [1] | |
Synonyms [2] | |
List
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The tree wasp (Dolichovespula sylvestris) is a species of
Tree wasps carry out
Taxonomy
The tree wasp was first classified in 1763 by
Distribution and habitat
D. sylvestris can be found throughout Western Europe and across central Asia to China, and it has also been sighted in northern Africa. It is not known to live outside of this region of the world.[1] This species of wasp prefers temperate climates.[9] In these regions it can be found in most habitats, including trees and shrubs, hanging from houses, and in the ground. It is often found in both urban and rural areas.[2]
Despite being called the tree wasp, D. sylvestris builds both aerial nests in trees and hedges, as well as underground nests. These underground nests are typically built near the ground surface in preexisting holes.[4][9] All nests appear to need an overhanging structure to suspend from, such as a rock, grass stem, or roof of a house, but the location and type of these structures can vary significantly.[7]
Description and identification
Dolichovespula sylvestris can reach a length of 11–15 millimetres (0.43–0.59 in) in workers, of 15–19 millimetres (0.59–0.75 in) in queens and of 13–17 millimetres (0.51–0.67 in) in males.
This species is less aggressive in comparison to many wasps, but will sting both animals and humans to protect its nest.[4] Nests are made of paper that comes from the digestion of wood, generally dead bark, and measure 10–15 centimetres (3.9–5.9 in) in diameter with an average of 4 combs.[4][7][9]
Colony cycle
The colony cycle for D. sylvestris is typically about 3.5 months and occurs from May through August or September.
Foraging behaviour
In the colony, the queen is responsible for all of the foraging for the nest until workers mature. This includes foraging for wood to make into pulp for the nest as well as food for the larvae. Most workers begin to help with foraging the day after they emerge from the nest as adults. Almost immediately, they take over all foraging activity for the queen.[4] The behaviour of the workers who forage differs depending on their activity. Those trying to catch flies move quickly from one flower head to the next and pounce on prey when it is found.[4][7] In comparison, wasps that forage for nectar move slower and spend more time at each flower. Other workers collect pulp from dead wood to use for nest construction. It appears that if the wasp is unable to quickly catch a fly it goes on to collect nectar suggesting one worker does not always collect the same type of material. Different amounts of time are given to each activity with the most time spent gathering fluid, then pulp, and then flies. Foraging takes place from roughly sunrise to sunset of each day in order to keep up with the resources needed for the colony.[7]
Worker-queen conflict
Worker policing
Nests of
Aggression
Another way to prevent worker born larvae is that other workers or the queen may attempt to sting or push the ovipositing, egg laying, workers off of the cells. It is important to note that workers almost never acted aggressively towards the queen or tried to prevent her from laying eggs. This results in nearly all eggs that mature being queen produced.[6] Even after the original queen in a colony dies and the new queens leave, workers may lay eggs but these eggs usually starve, rarely reaching maturity.[4]
Haplodiploidy
In the tree wasp, as in other Hymenoptera species, males are produced from unfertilised
Research suggests that Dolichovespula queens including D. sylvestris queens mate only once or have most sperm fertilizing eggs come from a single mate. The characteristics in this species of the queens having one mate, only 1-2 queens producing eggs in a nest, and a high level of worker policing indicates individuals in the nest will be very closely related. One study estimated that the relatedness among workers was 0.68 with data collected from 10 nests of twenty workers and the queen from each. This value was calculated by analysis at 3 DNA microsatellite loci which allowed the researchers to determine if males were queens’ or workers’ sons. Then using a computer program, relatedness among individuals in the nest was able to be estimated.[5] This high level of relatedness between wasps in the nest is likely what explains the eusocial behaviour in this species.[16]
Larval diet
The diet of D. sylvestris
Parasites
Social parasites
Dolichovespula omissa is known to be a social parasite of D. sylvestris in Europe.[9] D. omissa does not have a worker caste and instead the queens of this parasitic species have the workers of the host species raise their young. This is beneficial to D. omissa because they do not have to use resources to raise their young. In contrast, this is very bad for the tree wasp whose workers are now using their resources to raise offspring that are not related to them at all.[1][17] Few details are known about the social parasite D. omissa or its effect on the nests of D. sylvestris.[9]
Individual parasites
D. sylvestris is also affected by parasites that influence the individual. These include both fungi and roundworms. In particular, the fungus Paecilomyces farinosus and the mermithid roundworm, Pheromermis pachysoma are known to parasitise the tree wasp.[2][8] P. farinosus most often infects wasps and nests after death and therefore does not majorly influence the health of the colony. P. pachysoma typically infects flies and other insects when the roundworm eggs are eaten. The parasites then hatch in the insects and infects the wasp when the infected insects are fed to the wasp larvae. These roundworms usually do not kill the infected wasp but grow in their abdomen and can cause sexuals to become sterile. This has a negative impact on the individual as they are not able to reproduce and pass their genes on to the next generation.[8][18] However, this is not likely to have a major impact on the colony since most worker eggs are policed and the queens typically only have a single mate.[5][6]
Human importance
D. sylvestris is generally not considered a pest despite the fact that it is widespread in many regions and lives in urban areas nesting in areas such as the ground, in hedges, or hanging from eaves of houses.[2] This is mostly due to the fact that this species of wasp does not like to enter buildings and is not interested in the types of food that are consumed by humans. It normally is not a problem around humans unless it builds a nest where people do not want it or where there is risk of children encountering the nest. The tree wasp is not very aggressive compared to other species of wasps, but can sting if it feels its nest is threatened.[4] On the other hand, many of the reported pest problems for wasps in Scotland have been found to be D. sylvestris suggesting that many people do consider it a pest. Whether this was just from the presence of the nest or aggression of the wasps is unknown.[19]
References
- ^ a b c Archer, Michael E. (12 January 1998). "Taxonomy and World Distribution of the Euro-Asian Species of Dolichovespula (Hym, Vespinae)". Entomologist's Monthly Magazine: 153–160.
- ^ a b c d e T. Ings & R. Edwards (2002). "Dolichovespula sylvestris (Scopoli,1763)". Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
- ^ a b Pendleton, Trevor; Pendleton, Dilys. "The identification of Nottinghamshire Social Wasps". The website dedicated to Nottinghamshire's invertebrate fauna. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
- ^ ISBN 978-0906564011.)
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: CS1 maint: location (link - ^ PMID 11348506.
- ^ .
- ^ .
- ^ .
- ^ .
- ^ Soban, Branko. "A Living Bond between Idrija and Uppsala". The Slovenian. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
- ^ a b Carpenter, James; Kojima, Jun-ichi (5 September 1997). "Checklist of the species in the subfamily Vespidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Vespidae)". National History Bulletin, Ibaraki University. 1: 51–92.
- ^ J.K. Lindsey Commanster
- ^ DVOŘÁK & ROBERTS Key to the paper and social wasps of Central Europe
- ^ "Tree Wasp - Dolichovespula sylvestris". NatureSpot: recording the wildlife of Leicestershire and Rutland. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
- ^ a b Bunn, D.S. (23 October 1981). "Notes on the Nesting Cycle of Dolichovespula Sylvestris Scop. (Hym. Vespidae)". Entomologist's Monthly Magazine: 213–218.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4051-1416-5.
- JSTOR 2410019.
- .
- ^ Seath, Craig J. (1999). "Wasp (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) Trapping with Carbohydrates". Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference of Urban Pests. 275: 275–280.
External links
Media related to Dolichovespula sylvestris at Wikimedia Commons