Ohgushi, Ryohichi

English

Kyoto University Research Information Repository

RIGHT:URL:CITATION:AUTHOR(S):ISSUE DATE:TITLE:On the Plasticity of the NestingHabit of a Hunting Wasp,Pemphredon lethifer fabricii MüllerOhgushi, RyohichiOhgushi, Ryohichi. On the Plasticity of the Nesting Habit of a Hunting Wasp, Pemphredon lethifer fabricii Müller.Memoirs of the College of Science, University of Kyoto. Series B 1954, 21(1): 45-481954-10-20http://hdl.handle.net/2433/258415         ME)rOZRS o)" trHE CoblJEGE OI" SCIENCE, UiMvERslTY oF KyoTO, $ERIEs B,                        VoL XX.I, No. 1, Artiele 7, 1954       On the Plas'ticity of tlie NestiRg ffabit of a Hunting             Wasp, PemPhredon lethifer fabricii MUIIeri)                                    By                           'Xyol}iehi OHGUsHl                             ke                     Zoological Institute, Univers{ty of Kyoto                            (Receivecl 3Lily 7, 1954"    Penvphrecllon (Dineurus) Let;bifer fabricit l.VI{iller is wiclely distributed in thePalaearctic resrion. I}} 3apan this Pemphredonid was}) burrows lnto the pithy stemof Rttbtts paS'ntatibs, AIfiscantiz'tts sinensis and some other pltftnLs, .and provisionsseveral aphic{s for larvae.    Some biolegical stuclies en this wasp have beeit made in Japan by Ohgushi(1950) and 'I]suneki <l952), but t}}ere are seme disagreement in their observatienswith respect to the nestlng habit. Tsuneki observed in Hokkaido that, each larvalcell in the Rest was separated from a nei.crhbourlng one witii a pithy wall, but bymy obse.rvations in Kyoto the partitions of eells were either omitted or scarcel>rrecognizable.    Since t}]at time I have striven fer collecting the nests of this rare wasp, andit is my present eplnion that there are conslderab}e variations in tlite nest building.There may be a distinct partitien between two cells te nothing.    In this papeÅí are explained the variations ef nesting liahit ef this species withsome cliseussions on tl}eir etholo{rical meai}ing.    "i{y hearty thanks aye due to Dr. Ktmio lwata foT lils kind guidance in mystudy of cemparative etl}ology on wasps, te Dr. I<atsu]i Tstmekl for his kind iCleB-tifieation ef" materials and valuable sti.crg3stions, and to Prof. Denzaburo Miyadifor his kindness in readinbcr the origtnal manuscript.                      Observations and discussions    From 19tk9 to 1953, 10 nests of this wasp were found at Kurama in thenorthern suburbs ef i<yoto, ancl 2 other i}ests at Kobe.    The results of observations on the construction of these nests, espeeially with 1) This research was aidecl by the Scientific Besearch Expenditure of lhe Department of    Eclucatioii. 46reference toare glven in                    Byohichi OHGusnrthe presence or absence of separatingTable 1, and some of the nests are          Tab]e 1. Construction of nestswalls andillustratedexaminedto theirin Fig.arrangement,1.ts l o. of nesti1ATo. oflarvaetl1 No. ofpartitionsti   ATo.elll l.)tYofce!ls1234,56789101}l2475362383lti'2o12l52384253ii}'l.IzI)resence(+)or(-)of outlllostabseneel)al'tltlon+- vÅÄ+H-+++'{s.N, L c b' 3 PN-'-'xr :.: tr, "mth'th'7iJE77Trr../•,zi.,-.•,wh,.,.,,12xgkke•ma,fiiJVLtil;1,IFt/S'::]IXrllli-1•'Åí.-.'ffr2W•"/ •,,- •- :;?ETTITQ'i'=-="!JJ:J> I:gmsL.FiK.Tmu.,,=:._...ms"->"")"'[) i[/'i:. :/. c.r:xA .' i•,' S•,fcali'LIiirtv"'EllX.-t,,op_',"' N.Ns""".,, i tt,• (:tVI!!if}., :t.:•/./1 &,2,.Z,Vua.va.iZ28lt S:•:'tLILt./-t/ d•:I:]I)b ",lil"tl . •/gc[tYJI:))'- 3 .(ir,g,:,,"i•t/'t tt .t-  7 i.t...Fi,   pm' ''"'-. / t, •li•f/1. '. .'....i/:l..1 /.l.t.,• 111/. .•.,"..1'../t .1 // .. 2.  li''S)s""truct'"t"li"eL'`"Xofnest$. g""N"'L'";;:S"" Pithby a larva (carcases of aphids)of pithy substances by a mother tliat tlae number of partitions are oftenis the partitiens are more or }ess omitted'•1•'/. ,.r//1//4•',,//     Thethan the    N:    L:    C:    v:    I):clata innumber          Fig.Natural state ofLarvaI)artition madeBe.fuses of fooclPaTtition madeTcable l showof cells, that sma}lerbetweenOn the ?Iastlcity of the Nesting Uttbit of a }{unting Wasp 47twe larvae. The four cases in whieh the number of paxtitions are larger thaiithat ef the laxvae are due to the presenee of empty eel}s.    The variation in the relative nuntber of Iarvae allcl partitions, however, seemsto be continuous. It may be said from this fii}ding tl]at the difference, seen inthe nestinbcr habit, is not attributab]e to thc clifference of' subs?ecies or ecetype.    The nests of ptth"cligtauars and tube rent.rs, both of wasps and bees, are ge-iierally so construetecl as to separate each ]arva with partitions of various materialssucl} as pithy sttbstance, pul?, resin etc. Btit exceptionally, seme species ofgenus ALIeclape, Sphesc harnzancZt, Crabro brevino(ltts, Crabro crassirLoclus, Stigntussp. etc,, have been reported to co]3struct no partition hetween the larvae. Noobservation, hewever, kas exrer been made en a species which collstxucts the nestshaving various modes of partition.     It is shown in Tab}e 1 that 'tlxe outmost svall is omitted in 3 examples.']rhis omittien of the last partition mcfty have some xelations with the behaviour ofthe mother wasps, that is, tkey sometimes ren}ain alive ki the nests with theirhea[ls directing towarcl the eiitrance even after the larvae have beeome fullgrown,as is showil in Fig. P..I-'ig. 2. A case in whieh t'he mot}ier is retnainingr at the entra'nce ot tlie nest       instea(I of constructing 'the outriitost wa}l.    I saxv in another case tl]at a mother hacl clied in this position.    The cannibalism xvas not ebservecl amolltocr the larvae in the same nest.    Accorcllng to many stuclies of former atttbors, t'he habits of wa$ps and beesare fundamental}y well fixecl and cbaracteristic to each sy)ecies. rlrhe examplesgiven in this paper seem te indicate that reniarAkable variations may take place inone species }ivinbcr ka tbe scime area.    Tlie prese]it observatlons suggest that t'he l<i}owledge oB plasticity of habit must}]e taken into cons2cleration in the ethological investigation of inseet bekaviour.Furthermore, I wish te point out some of tl]e cliaracteri$tic facts about this wasp,sueh as tke surviva} of the mother wasp ofteR after the fullgrown stage of herlarvae, ancl the centact of the mother xNTith Iier }]reeds. [lrhese facts seem to sug-gest the dawn ef thu' social behavieur.481)2)3)4)5)6)Ryehichi OHGusur                                 LiteratureClaude-Jeseph, F. 1928: Becherches Biologiques sur les Predateurs du Chili. Ann. ScL         Nat. Bot. Zeol. ie. Il : 67-207.Iivata, K. ]940: The Life of wasps and bees. 'ibkyo (In Japanese)Iwata, K. 194+2 : Cemparative studies on the habits of so}itary wasps. Tenthredo 4i (1.2) :         1-l46.Ohgushi, R. I950: On the biology ef Peinpleredore lethifer fabricii M. Mtiller. Shln-Konchu,          3 No. 11 : 10--ll. (In Japanese)Tsuneki, K. 1951: The Genus Pemplteredon I.atreille of Japan ahd the Adjacent Regions         (1-lymenopters, Peinphredoni{lae). ifour. Fac. Sci. ffokkaiclo Vniv. VI. Ie (2):l63-         208.Tsunelci, K• l952 : Ethological st{idies on tha Japanese species of Pernphredon (fi/ymenoptera,         Sphecidae), with notes on thelr parasites, Ettampus spp. <ffu?}t. Citr•ysiclidae}. jaur.          Fae. Sei. Hokkaido'Univ. VI. 11 (1) : 57-76.

On the Plasticity of the Nesting Habit of a Hunting Wasp, Pemphredon lethifer fabricii Müller

https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/258415/1/mcsuk-b_21_1_45.pdf

On the Plasticity of the Nesting Habit of a Hunting Wasp, Pemphredon lethifer fabricii Müller

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Kyoto University Research Information Repository