Synoeca surinama

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Synoeca surinama
Tattoo Jep - This hornet's nest resembles or has the shape of a tattoo or armadillo.jpg
S. surinama nest in Trinidad and Tobago
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Vespidae
Subfamily: Polistinae
Tribe: Epiponini
Genus: Synoeca
Species:
S. surinama
Binomial name
Synoeca surinama
(Linnaeus, 1767)
Synonyms

Vespa surinamaLinnaeus, 1767
Vespa nigricornisOlivier, 1792
Polistes coeruleaFabricius, 1804
Synoeca surimanaZavattari, 1906 Lapsus calami
Synoeca surinamensisVesey-Fitzgerald, 1939 Lapsus calami

Contents

Synoeca surinama is a Neotropical swarm-founding wasp of the tribe Epiponini. It is known for its metallic blue and black appearance and painful sting. [1] [2] S. surinama builds nests on tree trunks and can be found in tropical climates of South America. [3] [4] When preparing to swarm, there are a number of pre-swarming behaviors that members of S. surinama colonies partake in, such as buzzing runs and occasional brood cannibalism. [5] In S. surinama, social environmental conditions determine the caste ranks of individuals in the developing brood. [5] Unlike less primitive Hymenoptera species, S. surinama display little morphological variation between egg laying queens and workers. [6] S. surinama wasps visit flowering plants and are considered pollinators. [7] When these wasps sting, the stinger is left in the victim and the wasp ultimately dies. [8]

Taxonomy and phylogenetics

The genus Synoeca is small, monophyletic, and is made up of the five species S. chalibea , S. virginea , S. septentrionalis , S. surinama, and S. cyanea The sister species of S. surinama within the genus is S. cyanea. [1]

Description and identification

Front of insect head diagram Front of insect head diagram.svg
Front of insect head diagram

S. surinama is a medium-sized wasp that is blueish-black in color and can appear metallic in certain light. It has dark, almost black wings. Like other members of the genus Synoeca, S. surinama has several specific identifying characteristics. More specifically, the head of S. surinama has a projecting vertex. Within Synoeca, there is some variation regarding how concentrated punctation (small markings or spots) is on the first abdominal segment (propodeum). Unlike S. chalibea and S. virginea, which have dense propodeal punctation, S. surinama, S. cyanea, and S. septentrionalis have less dorsal and lateral propodeal punctation. [1]

Nest identification

Nests of S. surinama are made from short chip material, rather than the long fibers used by some other Synoeca species. The comb has an anchored, pulp foundation, and the envelope is reinforced by blots. These nests do not have a secondary envelope, and the primary envelope is not as wide on the bottom as it is on the top. [1] The nests also have a central dorsal ridge and a keel, rather than a groove. [9] The entrances to S. surinama nests are formed as a separate structure away from the last gap, have a short, collar-like structure, and are centrally located toward the periphery of the envelope. Secondary combs are either absent or contiguous with the primary comb, and comb expansion occurs gradually. During nest construction, most cells are laid out before the envelope is closed. [1]

Distribution and habitat

Map of Neotropic ecozone Ecozone-Biocountries-Neotropic.svg
Map of Neotropic ecozone

S. surinama is found in regions with tropical climates in South America. It is most commonly found in Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil [9] Guyana, Suriname (from which S. surinama derives its name), French Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, and the northern parts of Bolivia. [3] It can be found in specific habitats such as wet grassland, scattered shrub area, sparse shrubs and trees, and gallery forest. [10] During the dry season, S. surinama nests on tree trunks [4] in gallery forest, but it forages in all four of the aforementioned habitats because it is robust enough to fly a relatively long distance from its nest. [10] It is one of the most common species of social wasp in Central Brazil. [10]

Colony cycle

S. surinama is a swarm-founding wasp, and during colony initiation queens and workers move together as a group to their new site. Individuals do not disperse during this time so there is no solitary phase. [11] Comb expansion occurs gradually, [1] and workers are responsible for constructing the cells of the nest for queens to lay eggs in. [11] S. surinama, like all other species of social Hymenoptera, function in a society in which all workers are female. Males, which do not contribute to work for the colony, are rarely found; however, some have been observed in recently founded, pre-emergence colonies of S. surinama. It is thought that these males are brothers of the founding females. [12]

Behavior

Swarming behavior

S. surinama, like many other related wasp species, exhibit swarming behavior. This is a collective behavior in which certain events or stimuli cause many individuals of the same species (most commonly from the same colony) to fly in close aggregation with one another, often appearing to onlookers as a giant cloud of moving insects.

Reasons to swarm

Colonies of S. surinama often swarm after the nest has experienced some sort of threat or attack, such as an affront by a predator that is severe enough to cause nest damage. Newly founded colonies of S. surinama have also been known to swarm after a bright light was directed at the comb, perhaps falsely simulating nest damage and exposure to sunlight. [5]

Pre-swarming behavior

Once an event worthy to cause a swarm has occurred, S. surinama exhibit synchronous alarm behavior such as buzzing runs and loop flights, which more individuals continue to participate in until building activity comes to a halt. Not all stimuli cause the same response, however, since brood composition affects a colony’s readiness to swarm. Colonies that have an empty nest or a very immature brood that would require a lot of resources to rear may be more ready to immediately swarm in response to danger than a colony with a large brood that is close to maturity. This is because staying to nurture this more developed brood for a short time might have a huge reproductive payoff in the form of many new workers. [5]

Buzzing runs

A sure sign of alarm in S. surinama is called "buzzing runs", which refers to a pre-swarming behavior triggered by a specific event. Most of the workers do not participate in this behavior, but the 8-10% of those who do are generally older members of the colony. When S. surinama perform buzzing runs, individuals are likely to have their mandibles raised and their antennae motionless, while also shaking from side to side and contacting other colony members with their mouthparts. Buzzing runs are irregular in rhythm and increase in intensity until the swarm departs. It has been suggested that buzzing runs function also to increase alertness and readiness to fly in the rest of the colony because they are similar to other known alarm behaviors; also, when a colony has members that are performing buzzing runs, small interferences with the nest that would not usually warrant any reaction cause many individuals to immediately fly away from the nest. [5]

Brood cannibalism

Although during pre-swarming activities S. surinama continue to forage, some older workers (over 21 days old) may eat large larvae and pupae before deserting the nest. This behavior is commonly referred to as brood cannibalism or filial cannibalism. When this situation arises, eggs and small larvae are left untouched. Young workers (1–21 days old) do not participate in eating larvae, so there is no competition between old and young workers for this food source. [5]

Swarm movement and relocation

When S. surinama wasps swarm, several things must take place: first, some individuals must plan ahead and find a suitable location for the swarm to move to; second, those who have found the next location must inform others how to get there by leaving a scent trail; and third, the colony members must follow the trail in order to arrive at the new location. [5]

Scent trails

Although wasps do not generally leave scent trails when the swarm is moving less than twenty meters away from the original location, most swarms do move farther, so scent trails are utilized. Scent trails are marked by scouts, who have a special gland called the Richards’ gland that releases an odor which other wasps can recognize and follow. When scouts release these olfactory cues, they perform a behavior called dragging, which refers to the action of laying down the scented chemicals. [5] Another species that shows this behavior is Polybia sericea .

Trail following

S. surinama wasps individually follow the scent trail laid out by workers to their new nesting site, rather than in a group. Trail following may appear similar to foraging because in order to accurately follow the trail the wasp must stop and investigate different landmarks to ensure that the scent left by the scout is still present. Generally, scented stopping points along the route are spaced roughly two to ten meters apart, and appear on obvious landmarks in the trail such as fence posts or rock surfaces. When the trail comes to a turn, marked sites are spaced much closer to one another to make it easier for the wasp to follow the trail. [5]

Dominance hierarchy

In S. surinama, social environmental conditions determine the caste ranks of individuals in the developing brood. Ritualistic dominance behaviors decide who the queen will be and potential queens face off in aggressive displays that may involve abdomen-bending gestures. Individuals that back down submissively are demoted to worker status, whereas those who act most aggressively towards her sisters becomes queen. [5] These displays are relatively mild compared to the competition that may occur between potential queens of other species of wasps, and after the queen is decided upon, she is not as dominant as the queen of other more primitive vespidae species. [6] [13]

Lack of reproductive suppression

In S. surinama, workers who do not lay eggs are virtually identical to queens that do; however, egglayers are the only caste that experiences ovarian development. [13] Despite the fact that egglayers have enhanced ovary development, they do not increase in size and morphometric differences are minimally, if at all, present. [6]

Human Importance

Agriculture as pollinator

S. surinama functions as a pollinator, and is able to carry pollen on its legs and head. It has been known to visit flowers of the Bauhinia guianensis, which contain nectar, so it is likely that these wasps consume nectar as a carbohydrate energy source. S. surinama is most likely to visit these flowers in the morning and afternoon. [7]

Sting autotomy

S. surinama wasps have barbed stingers, which is a significant characteristic for both the wasp producing the sting and the organism being stung. S. surinama are one of the highly social Hymenoptera species to employ sting autonomy (also called autotomy) as a mechanism of colony defense. The stingers of S. surinama have lancet barbs, which when injected into flesh will not come out easily. This act is suicidal for the individual performing it, but can function as great protection for the rest of the colony; in addition to continuing to inject venom, the sting apparatus also releases alarm pheromones and thereby marks the target as a recognised threat to be dealt with immediately if it should return. This defense is most effective against vertebrates, and is in fact disadvantageous against raiding insects. Generally, S. surinama only sting for defense, not offense. [8]

Sting venom

2-D chemical structure of the neurotransmitter serotonin Serotonin-skeletal.png
2-D chemical structure of the neurotransmitter serotonin

One of the active chemicals that are injected into the victim of a S. surinama sting is 5-hydroxytryptamine, which is commonly known as the neurotransmitter serotonin. [2] [14] When injected, serotonin acts as a vasoconstrictor, which could potentially be lethal to small animals. Since vasoconstrictor chemicals are often released in response to an open wound in order to stop excessive bleeding, the elevated presence of this vasoconstrictor falsely signals to the brain that there is a serious wound in the periphery, and this is experienced as severe pain. [2] In S. surinama, serotonin has also been found in the head, though in smaller amounts than what is found in the stinging apparatus. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polistinae</span> Subfamily of insects

The Polistinae is a subfamily of eusocial wasps belonging to the family Vespidae. They are closely related to the wasps and true hornets of the subfamily Vespinae, containing 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.

<i>Synoeca</i> Genus of wasps

Synoeca is a genus of eusocial paper wasps found in the tropical forests of the Americas. Commonly known as warrior wasps or drumming wasps, they are known for their aggressive behavior, a threat display consisting of multiple insects guarding a nest beating their wings in a synchronized fashion, and an extremely painful sting. The sting is barbed and if used often kills the wasp, which may be the reason why such a striking defensive display is used. This display escalates from drumming inside the nest to hundreds of wasps moving on to the envelope of the nest and continuing to drum. If this does not deter the threat only then do the wasps begin to sting.

<i>Apoica pallens</i> Species of wasp

The Central American paper wasp is a nocturnal eusocial wasp. It is famous for its swarm based emigration behavior, and is native to the lowlands of Central and northern South America. This species has developed special night vision adaptations to facilitate their night-time swarming and foraging behavior and has important medicinal properties for the Pankararú people of Brazil.

Apoica flavissima is a paper wasp found primarily in South America. The species is distinguishable by its light coloring, unique single comb nests, and nocturnal nature. A notable feature of this species is the size dimorphism between queens and workers. Unlike most Vespidae wasps, Apocia flavissima queens are smaller than their worker counterparts which results in unique intraspecies relationships.

<i>Polybia occidentalis</i> Species of wasp

Polybia occidentalis, commonly known as camoati, is a swarm-founding advanced eusocial wasp. Swarm-founding means that a swarm of these wasps find a nesting site and build the nest together. This species can be found in Central and South America. P. occidentalis preys on nectar, insects, and carbohydrate sources, while birds and ants prey on and parasitize them. P. occidentalis workers bite each other to communicate the time to start working.

<i>Agelaia vicina</i> Species of wasp

Agelaia vicina is a species of wasp in the genus Agelaia. They are neotropical social wasps known to have the largest colony sizes and nest sizes among social wasps, with some colonies exceeding over one million individuals. They are predators of land arthropods, consuming both insects and spiders alike. Recent sperm morphology studies have shown that although Vespidae belong to the superfamily Vespoidea, A. vicina may be more phylogenetically related to Apoidea.

<i>Synoeca cyanea</i> Species of wasp

Synoeca cyanea, commonly known as the marimbondo-tatu in Brazil, is a swarm-founding eusocial wasp. Native to Brazil and Argentina, S. cyanea is one of the largest and most aggressive species of social wasps and is feared in many rural areas. It begins its colony cycle in the early spring and continues until nest abandonment. Throughout its life, S. cyanea forage sugary substances and animal carcasses for food and wood pulp for its nest. S. cyanea is also known for its strong venom, which is enough to cause haemolytic activity.

<i>Agelaia pallipes</i> Species of wasp

Agelaia pallipes is a species of social paper wasp found from Costa Rica to Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. A. pallipes is ground-nesting and is one of the most aggressive wasps in South America. This species is a predator of other insects, including flies, moths, and ground crickets, as well as baby birds.

<i>Protonectarina</i> Genus of wasps

Protonectarina sylveirae, commonly referred to as the Brazilian wasp, is a neotropical swarm-founding wasp species that ranges widely across South America. This species relies heavily on the consumption of animal protein rather than nectar. P. sylveirae preys heavily on agricultural pests to coffee crops, keeping pest populations low.

<i>Leipomeles dorsata</i> Species of wasp

Leipomeles dorsata is a neotropical paper wasp that is found across Central America and northern South America. It is a eusocial wasp with little differentiation between reproducing and non-reproducing females. In fact, workers can become temporary reproductives if the main reproductives are killed, allowing reproduction to continue until the main reproductive population recovers. The colony cycles through different ratios of main reproductive females and subordinate reproductive females, starting with few or no primary reproducing females, and increasing until there are only main reproductives.

The African swarm-founding wasp, Polybioides tabidus, is a social paper wasp from the order Hymenoptera that is typically found in Central Africa. This wasp is unique in that it exhibits cyclical oligogyny, meaning queen number varies with colony cycle. After several generations of production of workers and future queens, a subset of many workers and queens leave the original colony to begin a new one. The new colony does not produce new queens until current queens from the old colony have died. P. tabidus has been observed to display both predator and scavenger behavior, depending on the food sources available.

Protopolybia exigua is a species of vespid wasp found in South America and Southern Brazil. These neotropical wasps, of the tribe Epiponini, form large colonies with multiple queens per colony. P. exigua are small wasps that find nourishment from nectar and prey on arthropods. Their nests are disc-shaped and hang from the undersides of leaves and tree branches. This particular species of wasp can be hard to study because they frequently abandon their nests. P. exigua continuously seek refuge from phorid fly attacks and thus often flee infested nests to build new ones. The wasps' most common predators are ants and the parasitoid phorid flies from the Phoridae family.

<i>Polybia sericea</i> Species of wasp

Polybia sericea is a social, tropical wasp of the family Vespidae that can be found in South America. It founds its colonies by swarming migrations, and feeds on nectar and arthropods.

Polybioides raphigastra is a species of social wasp found in the forests of South East Asia and Indonesia. It has recently been placed in the tribe Ropalidiini. This species is known for the downward-spiraling shape of their nests, and for having colony sizes exceeding ten thousand members.

<i>Ropalidia romandi</i> Species of wasp

Ropalidia romandi, also known as the yellow brown paper wasp or the yellow paper wasp. is a species of paper wasp found in Northern and Eastern Australia. R. romandi is a swarm-founding wasp, and manages perennial nests. Its nests are known as 'paper bag nests' and have different architectural structures, depending on the substrates from which they are built. The specific name honors Gustave, baron de Romand, a prominent French political figure and amateur entomologist.

Parachartergus fraternus is a neotropical, swarm founding, polistine wasp species that is distributed throughout Central and South America. They live in nests in second growth tropical dry forests, near pasture fields, roadside areas, and urban areas as well. These wasps eat insects, such as caterpillars of Lepidoptera. They also drink nectar, honeydew, and water. The workers capture their prey during foraging. They also use venom to paralyze their prey in order to consume it later. P. fraternus wasps are not very aggressive and they do not attack when the nest is approached.

<i>Synoeca septentrionalis</i> Species of stinging wasp

Synoeca septentrionalis is one of five species of wasps in the genus Synoeca. It is a swarm-founding wasp that is also eusocial, exhibiting complicated nest structure and defense mechanisms and a colony cycle including a pre-emergence phase and a post-emergence phase. It is typically found in areas from Central to South America. This wasp is one of the larger species of paper wasps and exhibits multiple morphological adaptations as a result of this. Synoeca septentrionalis is known for possessing a very painful sting.

<i>Agelaia multipicta</i> Species of wasp

Agelaia multipicta is a swarm-founding, highly eusocial wasp that lives in Mexico, Argentina, Trinidad and southern Brazil. It nests in natural cavities such as hollow trees and aggressively defends the nest from ants, who are brood predators. The workers and queens are morphologically distinguished by ovarian development as well as external features such as a larger petiole and gaster in the queen. Like other carrion-eating (necrophagous) wasp species, A. multipicta plays a scavenging role in the ecosystem. Agelaia multipicta was described by the Irish entomologist Alexander Henry Haliday in 1836.

Brachygastra scutellaris, a honey wasp, is a Neotropical, swarm-founding species that is found in South America and has a medium-sized population of 100-1000 individuals per colony. It stores large amounts of nectar in its nest for the production of honey, and it was even found that at certain times of the year, the nectar is toxic to humans, as they will extract nectar from hallucinogenic plants, depending on the season.

<i>Polybia paulista</i> Species of wasp

Polybia paulista is a species of eusocial wasp occurring in Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Andena, Sergio; Carpenter, James; Noll, Fernando (2009). "A Phylogenetic Analysis of Synoeca de Saussure, 1852, A Neotropical Genus of Social Wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Epiponini)". Entomologica Americana. 115 (1): 81–89. doi:10.1664/07-RA-002R.1. S2CID   85860442.
  2. 1 2 3 Jaques, R.; Schacter, M. (1954). "The presence of histamine, 5-hydroxytryptamine and a potent, slow contracting substance in wasp venom". Br. J. Pharmacol. 9 (1): 53–58. doi:10.1111/j.1476-5381.1954.tb00816.x. PMC   1509391 . PMID   13149776.
  3. 1 2 "Map of Synoeca surinama -- Discover Life".
  4. 1 2 Raw, Anthony (1998). "Population densities and biomass of Neotropical social wasps (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) related to colony size, hunting range and wasp size". Revista Braz. Zool. 15 (3): 815–822. doi: 10.1590/s0101-81751998000300025 .
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 West-Eberhard, M.J. (1982). "The Nature and Evolution of Swarming In Tropical Social Wasps (Vespidae, Polistinae, Polybini)". Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.
  6. 1 2 3 Noll, Fernando; Wenzel, John; Zucchi, Ronaldo (2004). "Evolution of Caste in Neotropical Swarm-Founding Wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae; Epiponini)". American Museum Novitates (3467): 1. doi:10.1206/0003-0082(2004)467<0001:EOCINW>2.0.CO;2. hdl: 2246/2777 .
  7. 1 2 Hokche, Omaira; Ramirez, Nelson (1990). "Pollination Ecology of Seven Species of Bauhinia L. (Leguminosae: Caesalpinioideae)". Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 77 (3): 559–572. doi:10.2307/2399520. JSTOR   2399520.
  8. 1 2 Hermann, Henry (1971). "Sting Autotomy, a defensive mechanism in certain social Hymenoptera". Insectes Sociaux. 18 (2): 111–120. doi:10.1007/bf02223116. S2CID   42293043.
  9. 1 2 Menezes R, Andena S, Carvalho A, Costa M (2011). "First records of Synoeca septentrionalis Richards, 1978 (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Epiponini) in the Brazilian Atlantic Rain Forest". ZooKeys (151): 75–78. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.151.1882 . PMC   3286226 . PMID   22368453.
  10. 1 2 3 Diniz, Ivone; Kitayama, Kiniti (1998). "Seasonality of vespid species (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in a central Brazilian cerrado". Revista de Biología Tropical.
  11. 1 2 Kelstrup, Hans; Hartfelder, Klaus; Nascimento, Fabio; Riddiford, Lynn (2014). "Reproductive status, endocrine physiology and chemical signaling in the Neotropical, swarm-founding eusocial wasp, Polybia micans Ducke (Vespidae: Epiponini)". The Journal of Experimental Biology. 217 (13): 2399–2410. doi:10.1242/jeb.096750. PMC   4081010 . PMID   24744417.
  12. ↑ Bouwma, P. E.; Bouwma, A. M.; Jeanne, R. L. (2012). "Social wasp swarm emigration: males stay behind". Ethology Ecology & Evolution. 12: 35–42. doi:10.1080/03949370.2000.9728321. S2CID   83557602.
  13. 1 2 Noll, Fernando; Wenzel, John (2007). "Caste in the swarming wasps: 'queenless' societies in highly social insects". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 93 (3): 509–522. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2007.00899.x .
  14. 1 2 Welsh, J. H.; Batty, C. S. (1963). "5-Hydroxytryptamine content of some arthropod venoms and venom-containing parts". Toxicon. 1 (4): 165–170. doi:10.1016/0041-0101(63)90002-3.
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