Eumeninae Research Articles

Taxonomic review of the potter wasp genus Antepipona de Saussure, 1855 (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Eumeninae) from Vietnam, with descriptions of two new species and keys to the Oriental fauna

Taxonomic review of the potter wasp genus Antepipona de Saussure, 1855 (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Eumeninae) from Vietnam, with descriptions of two new species and keys to the Oriental fauna

Description of a new species of potter wasp (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Eumeninae) from Northeast India

Pseumenes Giordani Soika, 1935 is a small genus of potter wasps occurring in Oriental, Australian and Palearctic Regions. Only one species, Pseumenes depressus (de Saussure, 1855) is known so far from India. A new species, Pseumenes siangensis sp. nov. from Arunachal Pradesh, is described. The morphological affinities of the new species are discussed. The new species is compared with the closely related P. depressus as well as P. laboriosus. Since P. depressus is similar to P. laboriosus, comparisons were made between P. laboriosus and P. siangensis sp. nov. The apical teeth of the propodeum are medium sized and blunt in P. siangensis sp. nov. (long and sharp in P. laboriosus); the posterior part of the first tergite is densely punctate in the middle P. siangensis sp. nov. (almost impunctate in P. laboriosus). The clypeus without a median black spot in P. siangensis sp. nov. (with median black spot in P. laboriosus).

A review of the solitary wasp genus Apodynerus from Vietnam (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

Species of the potter wasp genus Apodynerus Giordani Soika (Eumeninae: Odynerini) occurring in Vietnam are reviewed. Eight species have been collected from the study area, with four species new to science: Apodynerus angulus Nguyen & Engel sp. nov., A. gracilis Nguyen & AD Nguyen sp. nov., A. puteus Nguyen & Tran sp. nov., and A. securis Nguyen sp. nov. The new species are described and figured along with their male genitalia. Apodynerus indicus Giordani Soika, 1994 is recorded from Vietnam for the first time. The male genitalia of A. indicus, A. formosensis (von Schulthess, 1934), and A. troglodytes (de Saussure, 1855) are redescribed in detail with added characters. Apodynerus formosensis continentalis Giordani Soika, 1994 is synonymized under A. formosensis (syn. nov.). One species is removed from Apodynerus and placed elsewhere in the tribe: Paraleptomenes nitidiclypeus (Gusenleitner, 2013), comb. nov. Keys are provided to the species of the genus.

Contribution to the knowledge of the nesting biology of Eumenine wasps (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) in the Brazilian Amazonia

ABSTRACT Several recent studies have improved our knowledge on the biodiversity and evolution of Eumeninae wasps, yet many groups lack systematic reviews, and there are still many gaps regarding the nesting biology, with the rather fragmentary information dispersed in the literature. Eumeninae are solitary wasps and important predatory insects regulating arthropod populations and exhibiting remarkable nest-building behaviors. Nesting strategies include using preexisting cavities, making clay pots, or other exposed structures built with plant material, sometimes incorporating chewed leaves, cellulose pulp, or plant resins. Understanding the nesting biology of Eumeninae is important for elucidating the origins of group living and eusociality, as these species range from solitary to primitively social. However, there is a scarcity of information on behavior and nest architecture, hindering a comprehensive understanding of these subjects. In this study, we describe and illustrate for the first time the nest of Monobia funebris Gribodo, 1891 (Odynerini), the nest of Eumenes versicolor de Saussure, 1852 (Eumenini), and provide additional information on the nesting of Pachymenes ghilianii (Spinosa, 1851) (Eumenini) from nests collected in the Brazilian Amazonia. Our observations reveal new facts about nest architecture in Eumeninae and highlight the need for additional efforts to elucidate aspects of the nesting behavior of M. funebris and the continued presence of female P. ghilianii in the nest after its completion.

The solitary wasp genus Orancistrocerus from Vietnam, with descriptions of two new species (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Eumeninae).

New data are presented for the potter wasp genus Orancistrocerus van der Vecht (Eumeninae, Odynerini) occurring in Vietnam. Two species are described as new to science: Orancistrocerusthanhnhatsp. nov. and O.thanghensp. nov.Orancistrocerusaterrimuserythropus van der Vecht is synonymized with Orancistrocerusaterrimusaterrimus (de Saussure); the male genitalia of this species are described for the first time. An updated key is presented to all species of the genus.

Why do predators attack parasitized prey? Insights from a probabilistic model and a literature survey

Predators and parasitoids often encounter parasitized prey or hosts during foraging. While the outcomes of such encounters have been extensively studied for insect parasitoids, the consequences of a predator encountering parasitized prey have received less attention. One extreme example involves the potter wasp Delta dimidiatipenne that frequently provision their nest with parasitized caterpillars, despite the low suitability of this prey for consumption by their offspring. This raises two main questions: (1) why do female potter wasps continue collecting parasitized caterpillars? and (2) is this an exceptional example, or do predatory insects often suffer from fitness costs due to encounters with parasitized prey? We addressed the first question using a probabilistic mathematical model predicting the value of discrimination between parasitized and unparasitized prey for the potter wasp, and the second question by surveying the literature for examples in which the parasitism status of prey affected prey susceptibility, suitability, or prey choice by a predator. The model demonstrates that only under certain conditions is discrimination against parasitized prey beneficial in terms of the potter wasp’s lifetime reproductive success. The literature survey suggests that the occurrence of encounters and consumption of parasitized prey is common, but the overall consequences of such interactions have rarely been quantified. We conclude that the profitability and ability of a predator to discriminate against parasitized prey under natural conditions may be limited and call for additional studies quantifying the outcome of such interactions.

Discovery of the male of Okinawepipona yty Nguyen, 2018 (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae) from Vietnam.

The male of Okinawepipona yty Nguyen, 2018 is described and illustrated for the first time, together with its genitalia, based on specimens from Y Ty, Lao Cai, Vietnam. In addition, the male genitalia of O. curcipunctura Nguyen & Xu, 2014 is also described for the first time. Based on these descriptions, a discussion is provided regarding the male genitalia of eumenine wasps in general.

On the sleeping gregarious behavior of the potter wasp Antepipona biguttata (Fabricius) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae)

Antepipona biguttata, an Asian potter wasp, is distributed in China, India, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Despite a large geographical distribution, not much is known about its biology. Here, I describe the sleeping gregarious behavior of A. biguttata (Fabricius) for the first time. Seventeen individuals of the wasp, including 11 males and 6 females, were found gregariously sleeping on a bunch of panicles of the jungle rice Echinochloa colona. The wasps grasped the plants tightly with their mandibles, their fore and mid legs grasping at panicles, their hind legs either resting on the substrate or free backwards, and their head mostly orientating upwards. The wasps held their body parallel to the perch, with their antennae raised forwards and their wings usually extended at an angle of about 45 degrees. Brief comments on the sleeping behavior of A. biguttata are presented.

The potter wasp genus Allorhynchium from Vietnam, with descriptions of three new species and a new country record (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Eumeninae).

Species of the potter wasp genus Allorhynchium van der Vecht (Eumeninae: Odynerini) occurring in Vietnam are presented. Seven species have been recorded from Vietnam. Of them, three species are described as new to science: Allorhynchiumlatum Nguyen, Tran & MT Nguyen, sp. nov., A.moerum Nguyen & AD Nguyen, sp. nov., and A.setosum Nguyen & Engel, sp. nov., and one species, A.argentatum (Fabricius, 1804), is recorded from Vietnam for the first time. An updated key to the Oriental species of the genus is presented.

The First Record of Calvolia summersi (Mostafa, 1970) (Acari: Winterschmidtiidae) from the Oriental Region and a new record of host association with Xylocopa (Ctenoxylocopa) fenestrata (Fabricius, 1798) with a review on Xylocopa-mite associations in India

Mites have long been associated with bees, often showing a close relationship with particular taxa, probably due to a co-evolutionary process. The present study is the first confirmation on the occurrence of the mite species Calvolia summersi (Mostafa, 1970) in India and its association with Xylocopa fenestrata (Fabricius, 1798), a large carpenter bee species. The mite species was previously reported from Brazil in association with Zethus, a neotropical potter wasp genus. C. summersi is isolated and studied from different populations of X. fenestrata in Sagar Islands, West Bengal, the biggest island of mangrove Sundarban deltaic complex. A literature-based review of the Xylocopa-mite associations from India is provided herewith to understand the diversity and pattern of mite species on Xylocopa host selection in the country. Instigating a baseline study of Xylocopa-mite association is recommended to demark the status of dynamism for better conservation and protection.

Review of the European Eumenes Latreille (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) using morphology and DNA barcodes, with an illustrated key to species.

The European species of the potter wasp genus Eumenes Latreille, 1802 (Vespidae, Eumeninae) are illustrated and a new illustrated key to the 13 recognised species is presented. Eumenesmediterraneusaemilianus Guiglia, 1951 is synonymised with E.papillarius (Christ, 1791) (syn. nov.), E.obscurus André, 1884 and E.andrei Dalla Torre, 1894 with E.pedunculatus (Panzer, 1799) (syn. nov.) and E.crimensis Blüthgen, 1938 with E.sareptanus André, 1884 (syn. nov.).

Synthesized peptide analogs from Eumenes pomiformis (Hymenoptera: Eumenidae) venom reveals their antibiotic and pesticide activity potential

One natural antimicrobial peptide (EpVP2a, Eumenes pomiformis Venom Peptide 2a) found in the venom of a potter wasp (Eumenes pomiformis) and six analogs were synthesized and tested to compare their antimicrobial, antifungal, pesticide, and hemolytic activity with the wild type. Our results indicated that while the original peptide and the synthetic analogs had no antifungal activity or anti-bacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the original peptide and the analog with substitution of the aspartic acid on the sequence by a lysine (EpVP2a-D2K2) had activity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis. This same analog also shows significant insecticide activity. The analog with substitution of lysine with a slightly smaller ornithine had activity against E. coli and B. subtilis. All analogs show low hemolytic activity compared to the natural peptide. The peptide with a reverse sequence to the natural one (EpVp2a Retro) shows low helix structure which can also explain why it has no antibacterial activity and low hemolytic activity. Circular dichroism spectra show that these peptides form an alpha helix structure and their amino acid positions predict an amphipathic nature.

Species morphospace boundary revisited through wing phenotypic variations of Antodynerus species (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae) from the Indian subcontinent

The main objective of this study was to investigate the taxonomic significance of wing phenotypic variations (size and shape) for classifying potter wasps. This is the first study investigating the wing size and shape variations, as well as wing asymmetry, sexual dimorphism, wing integration, and phylogenetic signal analysis of all known Antodynerus species from the Indian subcontinent: A. flavescens, A. limbatus, and A. punctatipennis. We used forewings and hindwings for geometric morphometric analysis, and we proved that each species’ wing had unique size and shape variations, as well as significant right–left wing asymmetry and sexual dimorphism across the Antodynerus species, as verified by discriminant function analysis. Wings of Vespidae are longitudinally folded; based on that, we tested two alternative wing modular hypotheses for evaluating the wing integration, using two subsets organization, such as anterior–posterior (AP) and proximal-distal (PD) wing modular organization. We proved that Antodynerus species wings are highly integrated units (RV > 0.5), and we rejected our hypothesis at p < 0.05. The morphospace distribution analysis revealed that each species has its unique morphospace boundary, although they share some level of homoplasy, which suggests to us that we can use wing morphometric traits for Antodynerus species delimitation. In addition, we revealed the phylogenetic signal of Antodynerus species. Surprisingly, we found a shape-related phylogenetic signal in the forewing, and there is no significant (p > 0.05) phylogenetic signal in forewing size, hindwing shape, and size. We observed that the Antodynerus species’ forewing shape is evolutionarily more highly constrained than the hindwing. We found that A. limbatus and A. flavescens with distinct geographical distribution share a similar evolutionary history, while A. punctatipennis evolved independently.

A new species of Nesolynx Ashmead, 1905 (Hymenoptera, Eulophidae) parasitizing potter wasp, Delta pyriforme (Fabricius, 1775) (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) in its nest from southern India

Nesolynx deltaphagus sp. nov. parasitizing the potter wasp species Delta pyriforme (Fab.) (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) is newly described with illustrations from Kerala, India. This is the first report of parasitism of Nesolynx on Vespidae. A key for the Indian species of Nesolynx is provided along with the diagnosis of the new species with congeners. DNA barcode of the new species using universal primers of CO1 is also provided against accession number (Accession No: OK484482).

ENTOMOPHILY AND ORNITHOCHORY IN THE INDIAN SANDALWOOD, SANTALUM ALBUM L. (SANTALACEAE)

Santalum album is an evergreen tree species that flowers twice in a year with a gap of one month during May-September. It is hermaphrodite, obligately self-incompatible and entomophilous. The principal pollinators are bees and nymphalid butterflies while a species of hoverfly and potter wasp are additional pollinators in both flowering seasons. The fruits are fleshy, 1- or 2-seeded drupes and seed dispersal is ornithochorous. The study indicates that S. album is obligately vector-dependent for pollination and seed dispersal.

Nesting of the keyhole wasp Pachodynerus nasidens (Latreille, 1812) (Vespidae, Eumeninae) in a nest of a paper wasp (Vespidae, Polistinae)

Potter wasps (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Eumeninae) adopt different substrates for nesting, including other wasp nests. Nevertheless, such behavior rarely occurs with abandoned nests of the paper wasps (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae). In this study, we report the occurrence involving the nesting of a potter wasp on a paper wasp’s nest. Such a record occurred in November 2021 in a segment of a deciduous forest, at Mata Seca State Park, Southeast Brazil. An abandoned Polistinae nest was found, with 14 cells sealed with mud, from which four male Pachodynerus nasidens individuals emerged. This record of P. nasidens reusing a Polistinae’s nest increases our knowledge of Eumeninae nesting strategies and on possible associations between different groups of vespid wasps.

Issue Information

Left: Justicia betonica inflorescence showing completely opened bilabiate flowers. Photo by Prakash KarmakarTop‐right: Potter wasp (Anterhynchium abdominale) collecting nectar. By Mrinmoy MiddayBottom‐center: Black and White Cuckoo bee (Thyreus) searching for nectar. By P. KarmakarBottom‐right: Sweet bee (Halictus acrocephalus) gathering pollen. By M. MiddayThe photographs are taken adjacent to the Vidyasagar University Campus, West Bengal, India.Karmakar P et al. (2022) Floral biology, breeding system and pollination ecology of Justicia betonica L. (Acanthaceae): an assessment of its low reproductive success in West Bengal, India. Plant Species Biology, 278–293. https://doi.org/10.1111/1442-1984.12380image

Revision of the Pseudepipona herrichii-group of the eumenine wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae) with the description of two new species from China and Russia.

The Pseudepipona herrichii-group includes species of the genus Pseudepipona de Saussure, 1856, subgenus Pseudepipona s. str., without long setae on the gena, the scutum, and the propleura, with the transverse carina of the propodeum forming laterally a tooth or at least a blunt angle, and with the preapical tooth of the male mandible of approximately equal width and length. Taxonomic revision of this group revealed the existence of six species: Pseudepipona aldrichi (Fox, 1892), stat. nov. (= P. herrichii mongolica Giordani Soika, 1970, syn. nov.), P. herrichii (de Saussure, 1856) (= P. herrichii afromontana Gusenleitner, 1977, syn. nov.), P. kozhevnikovi (Kostylev, 1927), P. tingjingliae Fateryga, sp. nov., P. tricarinata (Kokujev, 1913), and P. valentinae Fateryga, sp. nov. A complete diagnosis of the males and females of these species is provided, as is an identification key. Maps detailing the geographic distributions of each species are presented. The available data on their bionomics are also summarized.

Nest provisioning with parasitized caterpillars by female potter wasps: costs and potential mechanisms

Females of the potter wasp Delta dimidiatipenne collect caterpillars from the surrounding vegetation and place them inside their mud-constructed nest cells to provision their offspring. It has been observed that females frequently collect caterpillars that are already internally parasitized by the larvae of the gregarious parasitoid wasp Copidosoma primulum . In such cases, the potter wasp offspring’s food supply may become depleted, and they may fail to complete their development, while the C. primulum offspring mature but remain trapped and eventually die within the mud cell. This raises the question: why do potter wasp females continue bringing parasitized caterpillars into their nests? We aimed at quantifying the fitness costs of this behaviour, while investigating the potential mechanisms sustaining it. For this, we conducted a field survey of Heliothis nubigera caterpillars, the most common prey of D. dimidiatipenne , from the nest cells and from the nearby vegetation. These were used to estimate the parasitism rate and, in laboratory experiments, to quantify the cost of feeding and developing on parasitized caterpillars, as well as the response of parasitized versus nonparasitized caterpillars to a simulated predator attack. We found that potter wasp larvae that were provisioned with parasitized caterpillars had reduced developmental success. Early potter wasp larval stages were indeed less likely to feed efficiently when provided with a single parasitized caterpillar compared to a nonparasitized one. Despite these costs, we found that female potter wasps seem to collect parasitized caterpillars more frequently than expected according to their occurrence in the vegetation. We found that parasitized caterpillars reached a higher body mass and were less active in their response to a simulated predator attack. These characteristics might contribute to the presumed attractiveness and higher susceptibility of parasitized caterpillars to the predatory potter wasps. • D. dimidiatipenne females often provision their nests with parasitized caterpillars. • As a result, their offspring suffer reduced developmental success. • Parasitized caterpillars reach a higher mass than nonparasitized ones. • Parasitized caterpillars are less responsive to a simulated predator attack. • These characteristics may make them more susceptible to predation by potter wasps.

REDISCOVERY OF Campanacella hamiltonella (WESTWOOD, 1867) (NEUROPTERA: MANTISPIDAE) FROM INDIA AFTER 155 YEARS

A rare neuropteran species Campanacella hamiltonella (Westwood, 1867) (family Mantispidae, sub-family Mantispinae) has been reported from the Chotanagpur Plateau, India for the first time. It is also the first record of this species from India after 1867. Morphological descriptions of the habitus are provided with digital illustrations. Mimetic features of this species are also discussed. A potter wasp species Phimenes flavopictum Blanchard, 1845 has also been reported from the same habitat whose abdominal coluoration is mimicked by C. hamiltonella. Discovery of C. hamiltonella from Chotanagpur Plateau suggests its extended geographical range in India which was earlier known to be restricted to Arunachal Pradesh only.