Diversity and nest site selection of social wasps along Guianese forest edges: assessing the influence of arboreal ants.
We examined 424 nests belonging to 61 wasp species along 5 km of rainforest edges in French Guiana (ca. 15,235 plants monitored), and estimate that we recorded up to 73% of the local social wasp fauna. This baseline study was complemented by a long-term survey of the same area and the examination of isolated trees (permitting us to record two additional species, resulting in a total of 63 wasp species). Our results form a continuum from species avoiding nesting on any plant (6.5% of the wasp species) to species nesting on plants but avoiding those sheltering ant nests (82%), to, finally, wasps nesting in association with arboreal ants known to divert army ant raids (11.5%). Consequently, this study documents that most wasp species select plants possibly repulsive to arboreal ants, while associations with arboreal ants, although confirmed here, have been overrepresented in the literature.
Corbara
Bruno
B
UMR-CNRS 6023, Université Blaise-Pascal, complexe scientifique des Cézeaux, Aubière, France.
Carpenter
J M
JM
Céréghino
R
R
Leponce
M
M
Gibernau
M
M
Dejean
Alain
A
D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000502:physiology*; D005616:French Guiana; D009425:Nesting Behavior; D010944:Plants; D012919:Social Behavior; D013045:Species Specificity; D014197:Trees; D014863:Wasps / Q000502:physiology*