NEST FOUNDATION BY THE FEMALE WASPS OF THE GENUS VESPA (HYMENOPTERA, VESPIDAE)

概要

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Some introductory accounts are given as to the nest foundation by the single female wasp in the Japanese Vespa species in comparison with those of the other vespine species. 1. The post-hibernating females start nest construction from late April to late May in the following order : V. mandarinia latilineata-V. xanthoptera-V. crabro flavofasciata-V. analis insularis-V. tropica pulchra. 2. The materials from which the paper sheets for nests are prepared are wood fibers mixed with salivary secretion. Some observations on behaviour sequence in the nest construction of the female wasps are described. 3. The forms of nests founded by the female wasps of the genus Vespa are divided into three types based on the shape of the envelope, bowl-shaped, ball-shaped and flask-shaped, and into two types based on the number of sheets of the envelope, single- and plural-sheeted. The pedicel is made in the shape of a club, like that of Polistes wasps. 4. The number of cells built by a single female wasps of Vespa species is 35 to 40, and the number of larvae reared up to pupae by herself 10 to 15. These cells are always smaller than those constructed later by the worker wasps.
日本昆虫学会の論文
1971-07-30