Studying temporal and spatial changes of aggregations of digger wasps through nesting seasons is interesting because of its link to social evolution via a semi-social pathway, but information about this topic is scarce. An aggregation of Cerceris arenaria Latreille was studied during 1997-1999 and for a short period in 2001. The colony grew in area and number of nests through the first three seasons, but the aggregation reduced in 2001, and this decrease was confirmed by a count of nests made in 2003 and 2005. The positions of the nest entrances remained almost constant over the years, at least in high-nest-density areas, because of the repeated use of the same burrows from which they emerged. This fact permits the population to exploit for many years a restricted area and could act as a nest-density-regulation method for fossorial species that rarely dig new nests, preventing an excessive nest density. The newly emerged females did not dig new nests, showed a high philopatry in the choice of their first nest, and preferred to look for other nests to occupy close to the ones recently abandoned (mainly for an undergone usurpation by a conspecific female). Philopatry, along with lack of new nest digging and position-dependent nest choice, is probably an important factor maintaining spatial stability of the aggregation through the years and could represent a first step in the evolution of a higher sociality in apoid burrowing Hymenoptera.

Polidori, C., Casiraghi, M., Lorenzo, M., Valarani, B., Andrietti, F. (2006). Philopatry, nest choice, and aggregation temporal-spatial change in the digger wasp Cerceris arenaria (Hymenoptera : Crabronidae). JOURNAL OF ETHOLOGY, 24(2), 155-163 [10.1007/s10164-005-0176-0].

Philopatry, nest choice, and aggregation temporal-spatial change in the digger wasp Cerceris arenaria (Hymenoptera : Crabronidae)

CASIRAGHI, MAURIZIO;
2006

Abstract

Studying temporal and spatial changes of aggregations of digger wasps through nesting seasons is interesting because of its link to social evolution via a semi-social pathway, but information about this topic is scarce. An aggregation of Cerceris arenaria Latreille was studied during 1997-1999 and for a short period in 2001. The colony grew in area and number of nests through the first three seasons, but the aggregation reduced in 2001, and this decrease was confirmed by a count of nests made in 2003 and 2005. The positions of the nest entrances remained almost constant over the years, at least in high-nest-density areas, because of the repeated use of the same burrows from which they emerged. This fact permits the population to exploit for many years a restricted area and could act as a nest-density-regulation method for fossorial species that rarely dig new nests, preventing an excessive nest density. The newly emerged females did not dig new nests, showed a high philopatry in the choice of their first nest, and preferred to look for other nests to occupy close to the ones recently abandoned (mainly for an undergone usurpation by a conspecific female). Philopatry, along with lack of new nest digging and position-dependent nest choice, is probably an important factor maintaining spatial stability of the aggregation through the years and could represent a first step in the evolution of a higher sociality in apoid burrowing Hymenoptera.
Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico
Cerceris arenaria; Nests aggregation; philopatry; space exploitation; social evolution
English
2006
24
2
155
163
none
Polidori, C., Casiraghi, M., Lorenzo, M., Valarani, B., Andrietti, F. (2006). Philopatry, nest choice, and aggregation temporal-spatial change in the digger wasp Cerceris arenaria (Hymenoptera : Crabronidae). JOURNAL OF ETHOLOGY, 24(2), 155-163 [10.1007/s10164-005-0176-0].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/9399
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