Abstract
Because social wasps often defend their nests by inflicting painful stings or bites, some animals associate with them looking for protection against potential predators. Some neotropical vespids are known to maintain associations with other insect and vertebrate taxa, such as birds and bats, however there are not previous records about associations between ants and hornets in Europe. In this study, we reported the first case of association between the arboreal ant Camponotus fallax and the European hornet Vespa crabro in Europe. The observations were made in Central Spain, where two colonies of C. fallax were found in two different avian nest-boxes inhabited by V. crabro when spotless starlings finished their breeding season. The reasons of this possible association are also discussed.
Highlights
Diverse authors have reported a large number of cases about interactions between Formicidae and Vespidae (e.g. Rusina, 2011)
This association supposes a benefit for both species, so it could be considered as a mutualism
Revisions of spotless starling nest-boxes were made in order to count how many of them were occupied by nests of European hornets
Summary
Diverse authors have reported a large number of cases about interactions between Formicidae and Vespidae (e.g. Rusina, 2011). Most interactions are related with cases of predation by ants on wasp nests or directly on solitary species (e.g. Schatz et al, 2006). The observations in Europe are mostly related to attacks by ants on paper wasp (Polistes sp.) nests (e.g.Turillazzi & Ugolini, 1979; Rusina, 2011; Kozyra & Baraniak, 2016; Pérez-Bote & Mora-Rubio, 2018).
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