Abstract
Social wasps are invasive in many regions around the world. In their new communities, introduced predators such as these wasps may be beneficial as consumers of exotic pests, but they will also consume native species. Here, we examined the diet of the exotic European paper wasp (Polistes dominula) and the closely related congener, Polistes chinensis, in a region of New Zealand where they co-occur. DNA barcoding was used to analyse their diet. The diet of both wasp species was largely Lepidopteran but other orders such as Hemiptera, Diptera and Coleoptera were also represented. Our analysis showed substantial site-to-site variation in diet. The two wasps differed significantly in their prey, although these differences appear to be driven by taxa identified from a small number of DNA reads in a small number of samples. Native and introduced fauna were represented in the diets of both wasps and included important agricultural pests. Of the 92 prey taxa able to be identified to species level, 81 were identified as exotic or introduced to New Zealand. The remaining 11 were species native to New Zealand. However, our estimates suggest over 50% of the prey DNA in the wasp diet is derived from native species. These wasps are abundant in some coastal and urban habitats, where they are likely to consume pest species as well as native species of conservation importance. The ecosystem services or costs and benefits provided by these invasive species are likely to be contingent on the prey communities and habitats they occupy.
Highlights
Exotic species can have both beneficial and harmful effects on their recipient communities
Despite only two of the 123 Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units (MOTUs) belonging to the order Hemiptera, these taxa were found in 22 (73%) samples from P. dominula and 14 (50%) from P. chinensis
This study suggests that when considering the presence or absence of taxa in the diets of P. dominula and P. chinensis, the two invasive wasps have different prey communities
Summary
Exotic species can have both beneficial and harmful effects on their recipient communities. Predatory invertebrates can have significant impacts on native fauna (Crowder and Snyder 2010) These impacts are arguably most apparent in social wasps in the Vespidae family, whose adaptive behaviours and ability to reach substantial population densities make them effective invasive predators (Beggs et al 2011; Lester and Beggs 2019). Invasive wasps have repeatedly been shown to exert considerable predation pressure on recipient communities (Toft and Rees 1998; Beggs and Rees 1999; Wilson et al 2009; Parent et al 2020). These wasps, can be beneficial for their recipient communities. Aculeate wasps can act as biological indicators and perform important ecosystem services as parasites, predators, pollinators, decomposers and seed dispersers (Brock et al 2021)
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