Observations of a nesting anomaly were made in V. maculifrons. An aerial nest was found in the basement of an unoccupied house

Coziahr, Mary

Haman, A. C.

English

Name not available

A Nesting Anomaly of Vespula maculifrons (Buysson) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

University of Northern Iowa

Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science Volume 86 Number Article 6 1979 A Nesting Anomaly of Vespula maculifrons (Buysson) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) Mary Coziahr University of Northern Iowa A. C. Haman University of Northern Iowa Copyright ©1979 Iowa Academy of Science, Inc. Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias Recommended Citation Coziahr, Mary and Haman, A. C. (1979) "A Nesting Anomaly of Vespula maculifrons (Buysson) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)," Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, 86(3), 105-105. Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol86/iss3/6 This Research is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa Academy of Science at UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science by an authorized editor of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact scholarworks@uni.edu. Proc. Iowa Acad. Sci. 86(3):105.1979 A Nesting Anomaly of Vespula maculifrons (Buysson) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) MARY COZIAHR and A.C. HAMAN Department of Biology, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613 Observations of a nesting anomaly were made in V. maculifrons. An aerial nest was found in the basement of an unoccupied house. INDEX DESCRIPTORS: Vespula maculifrons (Buysson), Hymenoptera, Nesting. Wasps in the genus Vespula (s. str.) are characterized as building subterranean nests (Bequaert 1931, Duncan 1939, Miller 1961). These wasps usually enlarge a subterranean cavity and construct nests consist-ing of a series of vertically suspended horizontal combs surrounded by an envelope. Published reports indicate that some aerial nests have been constructed above ground. Such nests are considered aberrations of normal nesting behavior. V. maculifrons has been reported by Bequaert (1931) as building aerial nests inside decayed stumps or hollow logs. Rau (1931) observed a nest inside a little-used tool closet. Simon and Benton ( 1968) reported nests of this species in a stack of honey bee supers in a barn loft. Green et al. (1970) reported V. maculifrons nests in a barn loft, under house siding and in the foundations of buildings. In such situations, the nests are nearly always protected from the environment. Green et al. (1970) reported exposed aerial nests ofV. maculifrons. Exposed nests lack the scalloped sculpturing of the envelope that is associated with subterranean nests. Green et al. ( 1970) suggested that exposed, incipient aerial nests may be common and often fail to develop due to environmental stress. The envelope around the brood combs serves a thermoregulatory function (Gibo et al. 1974a, 1974b and 1977) by forming a small incubator that accelerates the development of immature stages insuring their maturation in a restricted time period. Potter ( 1965) suggested that thermoregulation is a function of colony size and that small nests have proportionally thicker envelopes than larger colonies due to differences in surface to volume ratios. Spadbury ( 1973) indicated that exposed nests stimulate the construction of thicker envelopes. Potter (1973) illustrated a subterranean nest ofV. germanica (L.) with an envelope 2 cm thick and an aerial nest of the same species with an envelope 6 cm thick. On 12 July 1977, the authors collected a nest of V. maculifrons suspended between two joists in the basement beneath the first floor of an unoccupied house in Council Bluffs, Iowa in Pottawattamie Co. The nest was an unexposed aerial nest located 25 cm above ground level. The entrance of the nest was a small hole on the south side of the foundation. The nest was weil-developed containing six horizontal combs with a total of over 9000 cells. Only a few dead workers were found associated with the nest. The nest had the texture and sculpturing associated with subterranean nests. The envelope of the nest was 6.5 cm thick. The specific factors involved in nest site selection ofV. maculifrons are not known. In natural habitats, subterranean cavities apparently offer the bulk of optimal nesting habitats. In disturbed areas, such nesting sites may not be as readily available. Seldom used buildings may afford new nesting opportunities and may account for the in-creased reports of aerial nest records. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors wish to thank Dr. A.S. Menke, Systematic Entomology Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland, for confirming the identification of V. maculifrons. REFERENCES BEQUAERT, J. 1931. A tentative synopsis of the hornets and yellowjackets (Vespinae: Hymenoptera) of America. Entomol. Amer. 12:71-138. DUNCAN, C.D. 1939. A contribution to the biology of North American Vespinae wasps. Stanford Univ. Pub. Univ. Ser. Bio. Sci. 8(1):1-272. GIBO, D.L., R.M. YARASCAVITCH, and H.E. DEW. 1974a. Thermoregu-lation in colonies ofVespula arenaria and Vespula maculata (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) under normal conditions and under cold stress. Can. Ent. 106:503-507. ___ , N.E. DEW, and A.A. HAJDUK. 1974b. Thermoregulationincolonies of Vespula arenaria and Vespula maculata (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). II. The relation between colony biomass and calorie production. Can. Ent. I 06:873-879. --, A. TEMPORALE, T.P. LAMARRE, B.M. SOUTAR, and H.E. DEW. 1977. Thermoregulation in colonies ofVespula arenaria and Vespula maculata (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). III. Heat production in queen nests. Can. Ent. 109:615-620. GREEN, S.G.,R.A. HECKMAN,A.W. BENTONandR.F.COON. 1970. An unusual nest location of V. maculifrons (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Ann. Amer. Ent. Soc. 63:1197-1198. MILLER, C.D.F. 1961. Taxonomy and distribution of Neararctic Vespula. Can. Ent., Suppl. 22:1-52. POTTER, N.B. 1964. A study of the biology of the common wasp, Vespula vulgaris L. with special reference to the foraging behavior. Ph.D. Disserta-tion. Univ. Bristol, England 75p. RAU, P. 1931. An unusual nest of the yellowjacket Vespa germanica. Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc. 26:85-88. SIMON, R.P. andA.W. BENTON. 1968. WinteractivitiesofVespulamaculif-rons. Ann. Amer. Ent. Soc. 61(2):542-44. SPRADBERY, J.P. 1973. Wasps: an account of the biology and natural history of solitary and social wasps. University of Washington Press. 1Coziahr and Haman: A Nesting Anomaly of Vespula maculifrons (Buysson) (Hymenoptera:Published by UNI ScholarWorks, 1979

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A Nesting Anomaly of Vespula maculifrons (Buysson) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

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