Abstract
The social vespid wasps are common insect predators and several species behave in unison in the same biotopes. It is commonly accepted that social wasps are mainly opportunistic generalist predators without differences in prey selection and hence they compete for the same food resources. Trophic positions of six vespid wasp species and their potential prey from four sites in Finland and one in the UK were evaluated using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N). The difference in isotope values indicated different trophic positions among species. In general, Dolichovespula spp. showed higher δ15N values than Vespula spp., which suggests that Dolichovespula forage on higher trophic levels. Dolichovespula media (Retzius, 1783) showed the highest δ15N values, whereas Vespula vulgaris showed the lowest. Dolichovespula media partly expresses apex predator-like δ15N values, whereas Vespula species tend to forage on primary consumers. The largest species Vespa crabro (Linnaeus, 1758) showed also similar δ15N values as Vespula spp. However, δ13C and δ15N values of V. vulgaris workers varied slightly during the season. This study offers novel insights about the trophic segregation in the social wasp community, suggesting specialization in diet resource utilization, especially between Dolichovespula and Vespula.
Highlights
Social wasps (Vespinae) are ubiquitous insects with typical annual life cycle where single female establishes the nest in the spring
V. vulgaris differed from the former species
Other Dolichovespula spp. showed higher δ15N values compared with Vespula spp. and V. crabro, which showed very similar δ15N values to Vespula spp
Summary
Social wasps (Vespinae) are ubiquitous insects with typical annual life cycle where single female (queen) establishes the nest in the spring. Queen takes care of the nest by herself till the first workers emerge. After workers take over the full care of the nest, the queen focuses only on egg laying. Reproductives (drones and new queens) emerge, mate and the old nest establisher queen dies. The nest starts to fade out; only the new queens overwinter [1]. Several eusocial wasp species coexist in unison in the same biotopes. Workers take care of the nest by collecting wood pulp royalsocietypublishing.org/journal/rsos R.
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