Abstract
Many solitary ground-nesting wasps in the families Pompilidae and Sphecidae excavate nests after capturing prey for provisions. These wasps generally cache their immobilized prey temporarily during nest excavation, frequently by suspending the prey in a plant ("aerial caching' '). Here I test the hypothesis that aerial caching by Ammophila spp. wasps (Sphecidae) functions to reduce prey theft by generalist predators, Formica spp. ants. Foraging ants removed baits placed on the ground more rapidly than baits suspended in plants; mean halflives for ground and aerial baits were 14.5 and 145. 7 min, respectively (mean values for experiments 1-3). Ant foraging activity decreased during the midday. Ant interference with nesting activities of Ammophila spp. also decreased during the midday, paralleling observed fluctUations in ant foraging activity.
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