Solitary Wasps

Comparative Ethology of Solitary Wasps

Grass strip corridors in agricultural landscapes enhance nest-site colonization by solitary wasps.

Corridors that connect otherwise isolated habitats have often been proposed as a management strategy to mitigate negative effects of habitat fragmentation. Non-crop corridors may have the potential to enhance the connectivity for arthropod predators in cropland landscapes, especially for species that require multiple habitats, such as cavity-nesting wasps which use wooded habitat for nesting an...

Differential Properties of Venom Peptides and Proteins in Solitary vs. Social Hunting Wasps.

The primary functions of venoms from solitary and social wasps are different. Whereas most solitary wasps sting their prey to paralyze and preserve it, without killing, as the provisions for their progeny, social wasps usually sting to defend their colonies from vertebrate predators. Such distinctive venom properties of solitary and social wasps suggest that the main venom components are likely...

Trap-nest occupation by solitary wasps and bees (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) in a forest urban remanent.

Temporal variation of solitary wasps and bees, nesting frequency, mortality, and parasitism were recorded from a remanent forest in Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. Wasps and bees were collected in trap-nests placed in areas with 25, 100, and 400 m2, from February to November 2004. The 137 trap-nests collected contained 11 species of wasps and bees. Wasps occupied most nests (75%). Occupation peaks ...

Figs and fig wasps

The current project builds on previous grants under the Darwin Initiative that focused on Nepal's flora, a key one of which dealt with plant information and technology transfer, run by the Natural History Museum in London. But the current project is much more ambitious. Although only funded for three years at present, the team hopes funds will be made available for the estimated 15 years it wil...