Abstract
AbstractPsithyrusspp. (Hymenoptera: Apidae) are obligate social parasites of bumble bees (Bombusspp.). Morphological and physiological features ofP.ashtoni(Cresson) females, which may facilitate the successful usurpation of host nests, were examined. Parasite females were no larger thanB.terricolaKirby queens, although they possessed a number of protective modifications to the exoskeleton, as well as increased offensive armament, including larger mandibles and a longer venom gland. Females ofP.ashtoniandP.insularis(Smith) possessed a greater number of ovarioles than host queens, and produced smaller eggs. The Dufour’s glands of the twoPsithyrusspecies were significantly larger than those ofB.terricola. There appears to have been considerable convergence in the evolution of socially parasitic lifestyles in bumble bees and wasps (Vespulaspp.), presumably as a consequence of similar selective pressures operating on parasites belonging to these distantly related but socially similar taxa.
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