Polistinae

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Polistinae
Polistes sp wasp.jpg
Polistes africanus with nest
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Vespidae
Subfamily: Polistinae
Tribes

Epiponini
Mischocyttarini
Polistini
Ropalidiini

The Polistinae is a subfamily of eusocial wasps belonging to the family Vespidae. They are closely related to the yellowjackets and true hornets of the subfamily Vespinae and are divided into four tribes. With about 1,100 species total, it is the second-most diverse subfamily within the Vespidae, and while most species are tropical or subtropical, they include some of the most frequently encountered large wasps in temperate regions.[ citation needed ]

Contents

The English common name for Polistinae is paper wasp. Many polistines, such as Polistes fuscatus, Polistes annularis , and Polistes exclamans , make their nests out of paper.[ citation needed ] Despite being called paper wasps, other wasps (including the wasps in the subfamily Vespinae) also build nests out of paper.[ citation needed ] Additionally, epiponine wasps in the subgenus Polybia (Pedothoeca), such as Polybia emaciata , build their nests out of mud despite being Polistinae. [1]

Polistes annularis suspends its paper nests from cliff overhangs via a pedicel, whose free fatty acids induce the necrophobic response in ants and causes them to avoid the pedicel rather than cross and prey on the nest's inhabitants. [2] Polistes metricus foragers take off from their nests as if they already know how long their trip is. For short flights, they exit the nest flying horizontally, while for long flights they exit the nest flying straight up into a high altitude before pursuing their direction. [3] Polistine brood cells are arranged in a hexagonal array, similar to the comb structure in a honey bee nest. Some species[ which? ] of the epiponine genera Polybia and Brachygastra store honey in the comb, among the few insects other than bees to store honey (also some ants store honey in their bodies).[ citation needed ]

Polistes africanus Polistes africanus.jpg
Polistes africanus

Characteristics

Characteristics of the Polistinae are:

Colony life cycle

Nest of Polistes stigma tamulus Polistes nest.jpg
Nest of Polistes stigma tamulus

Polistine wasps found colonies in one of two ways. In some species,[ which? ] nests are founded by a small number of reproductive females, possibly a single one. One of the foundresses eventually acquires dominance over the other and is the sole reproducer. The nest is open (not enclosed by an envelope) and contains a single comb.

In the other group,[ clarification needed ] called "swarm-founding", the nest is founded by a large number of workers and a few queens. It is usually protected by an envelope, like a vespine nest.

Genera

Tribe Epiponini Lucas, 1867

Tribe Mischocyttarini Carpenter, 1993

Tribe Polistini Lepeletier, 1836

Tribe Ropalidiini Bequaert, 1918

Tribe incertae sedis

References

  1. ↑ O'Donnell, S; Jeanne, R.L. (2002). "The nest as fortress: defensive behavior of Polybia emaciata, a mud-nesting eusocial wasp" (PDF). Journal of Insect Science. 2 (3): 1–5. doi:10.1673/031.002.0301. PMC   355903 . PMID   15455037.
  2. ↑ Espelie, Karl (1990). "Surface lipids of the social wasp Polistes annularis (L.) and its nest and nest pedicel". Journal of Chemical Ecology. 16 (6): 1841–1852. Bibcode:1990JCEco..16.1841E. doi:10.1007/bf01020498. PMID   24263988.
  3. ↑ Dew, Heather E.; Michener, Charles D. (1978). "Foraging flights of two species of Polistes wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)". Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. 51 (3): 380–385. JSTOR   25083048.
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