Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Some aspects of interrelations between ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) and polistine wasps (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)

  • Published:
Entomological Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Embodied, situated and enactive aspects of relationships of polistine wasps with ants are considered within the framework of the theory of autopoiesis. The idea of the embodied interaction implies specific nestbuilding and protective behavior in polistine wasps. The paper examines the adaptive role of applying ant repellent on the petiole and nest and the latitude gradient of such behavior in re-social wasp species. The situated interaction is considered in the environmental context: the mortality of Polistes gallicus (L.) colonies as a result of predatory attacks of ants Myrmica bergi Ruzsky is analyzed in the Lower Dnieper basin (Ukraine). The enactive interaction includes both spontaneous autonomous activity of its participants as a result of self-organization and specific features of the spatial structure of the prey’s population forming under the impact of the predator. The applicability of some “predator-prey” models is discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Bondar, S.S. and Rusina, L.Yu., “Myrmica bergi (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the Black Sea Reserve,” Uspekhi Sovrem. Biol. 123(3), 243–248 (2003).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Bouwma, A.M., Howard, K.J., Jeanne, R.L., “Rates of Predation by Scouting-and-Recruiting Ants on the Brood of a Swarm-Founding Wasp in Costa Rica,” Biotropica 39(6), 719–724 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Camazine, S., Deneubourg, J.-L., Franks, N.R., et al., Self-Organization in Biological Systems (Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, 2001).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Chadab, R., “Early Warning Cues for Social Wasps Attacked by Army Ants,” Psyche 86(2–3), 115–123 (1979).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Chadab, R. and Rettenmeyer, C.W., “Mass Recruitment by Army Ants,” Science 188, 1124–1125 (1975).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Chadab, R. and Rettenmeyer, C.W., “Observations on Swarm Emigrations and Dragging Behavior by Social Wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae),” Psyche 86, 347–352 (1979).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Chadab, R. and Rettenmeyer, C.W., “Comparative Behavior of Social Wasps when Attacked by Army Ants or Other Predators and Parasites,” in The Biology of Social Insects. Ed. by M.D. Breed, C.D. Mishener, and H.E. Evans (Westview Press, Boulder, 1982), pp. 270–274.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Corn, M.L., “Notes on the Biology of Polistes carnifex (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) in Costa Rica and Colombia,” Psyche 79, 150–157 (1972).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Darchen, R., “Ropalidia cincta, guêpe sociale de la savane de Lamto (Côte-d’Ivoire) (Hym. Vespidae),” Ann. Soc. Entomol. France N. S. 12, 579–601 (1976).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Deleurance, É.-P., “Contribution à l’étude biologique des Polistes (Hyménoptères-Vespides) I. L’activité de construction,” Behaviour 11, 67–84 (1957).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Deneubourg, J.L. and Goss, S., “Collective Patterns and Decision Making,” Ethol. Ecol. Evol. 1, 295–311 (1989).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Forsyth, A.B., “Swarming Activity of Polybiine Social Wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Polybiini),” Biotropica 13, 93–99 (1981).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Gadagkar, R., “Belonogaster, Mischocyttarus, Parapolybia, and Independent-Founding Ropalidia,” in The Biology of Social Wasps (Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca, 1991), pp. 149–190.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Giannotti, E. and Machado, V.L.L., “The Seasonal Variation of Brood Stages Duration of Polistes lanio (Fabricius, 1775) (Hymenoptera, Vespidae),” Naturalia Sao Paulo 19, 97–102 (1994).

    Google Scholar 

  15. Hassell, M.P. and May, R.M., “Stability in Insect Host-Parasite Models,” J. Anim. Ecol. 42, 693–726 (1973).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Herre, E.A., Windsor, D.M., and Foster, R.B., “Nesting Associations of Wasps and Ants on Lowland Peruvian Ant-Plants,” Psyche 93, 321–330 (1986).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Holt, R.D., “Population Dynamics and Evolutionary Process: the Manifold Roles of Habitat Selection,” Evol. Ecol. 1, 331–347 (1987).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Jeanne, R.L., “Chemical Defense of Brood by a Social Wasp,” Science 168, 1465–1466 (1970).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Jeanne, R.L., “Social Biology of the Neotropical Wasp Mischocyttarus drewseni,” Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard Univ. 144, 63–150 (1972).

    Google Scholar 

  20. Jeanne, R.L., “The Adaptiveness of Social Wasp Nest Architecture,” Quart. Rev. Biol. 50, 267–287 (1975).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Jeanne, R.L., “A Latitudinal Gradient in Rates of Ant Predation,” Ecology 60, 1211–1224 (1979).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Jeanne, R.L., “Predation, Defense, and Colony Size in the Social Wasps,” in The Biology of Social Insects. Ed. by M.D. Breed, C.D. Mishener, and H.E. Evans (Westview Press, Boulder, 1982), pp. 280–284.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Karsai, I. and Penzes, Z., “Comb Building in Social Wasps: Self-Organization and Stigmergic Script,” J. Theor. Biol. 161, 505–525 (1993).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Karsai, I. and Penzes, Z., “Optimality of Cell Arrangement and Rules of Thumb of Cell Initiation in Polistes dominulus: a Modeling Approach,” Behav. Ecol. 11, 387–395 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Karsai, I. and Wenzel, J.W., “Organization and Regulation of Nest Construction Behavior in Metapolybia Wasps,” J. Insect Behav. 13, 111–140 (2000).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Keeping, M.G., “Rubbing Behavior and Morphology of Van der Vecht’s Gland in Belonogaster petiolata (Hymenoptera: Vespidae),” J. Insect Behav. 3, 85–104 (1990).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Knyazeva, E.N., “The 30 Years of Synergetics. An Interview with H. Haken,” Voprosy Filos. 3, 53–61 (2000).

    Google Scholar 

  28. Knyazeva, E.N., “Francisco Varela: From the Theory of Autopoiesis to the New Concept in Cognitive Science,” Voprosy Filos. 8, 91–104 (2005).

    Google Scholar 

  29. Knyazeva, E.N. and Kurdyumov, S.P., Laws of Evolution and Self-Assembly of Complex Systems (Nauka, Moscow, 1994) [in Russian].

    Google Scholar 

  30. Kojima, J., “Notes on Rubbing Behavior in Ropalidia gregaria (Hymenoptera, Vespidae),” New Entomol. 31, 17–19 (1982).

    Google Scholar 

  31. Kojima, J., “Defense of the Pre-Emergence Colony against Ants by Means of a Chemical Barrier in Ropalidia fasciata (Hymenoptera, Vespidae),” Jpn. J. Ecol. 33, 213–223 (1983a).

    Google Scholar 

  32. Kojima, J., “Occurrence of the Rubbing Behavior in a Paper Wasp, Parapolybia indica (Hymenoptera, Vespidae),” Kontyû 51, 158–159 (1983b).

    Google Scholar 

  33. Kojima, J., “The Ant Repellent Function of the Rubbing Substance in an Old World Polistine, Parapolybia indica (Hymenoptera: Vespidae),” Ethol. Ecol. Evol. 4, 183–185 (1992a).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Kojima, J., “Temporal Relationships of Rubbing Behavior with Foraging and Petiole Enlargement in Parapolybia indica (Hymenoptera, Vespidae),” Ins. Soc. 39, 275–284 (1992b).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Kojima, J., “A Latitudinal Gradient in Intensity of Applying Ant-Repellent Substance to the Nest Petiole in Paper Wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae),” Ins. Soc. 40, 403–421 (1993).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. LaMon, B. and Topoff, H., “Avoiding Predation by Army Ants: Defensive Behaviors of Three Ant Species of the Genus Camponotus,” Anim. Behav. 29, 1070–1081 (1981).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Litte, M., “Social Biology of the Polistine Wasp Mischocyttarus labiatus: Survival in a Colombian Rain Forest,” Smithsonian Contr. Zool. 327, 1–27 (1981).

    Google Scholar 

  38. London, K.B. and Jeanne R.L., “The Interaction between Mode of Colony Founding and Nest Architecture to Ant Defense in Polistine Wasps,” Ethol. Ecol. Evol. 12, 13–35 (2000).

    Google Scholar 

  39. London, K.B. and Jeanne R.L., “Wasps Learn to Recognize the Odor of Local Ants,” J. Kansas Entomol. Soc. 78, 134–141 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Marino Piccioli, M.T. and Pardi, L., “Studi sulla biologia di Belonogaster (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). I. Sull’etogramma di Belonogaster griseus (Fab.) [sic],” Monit. Zool. Ital. N. S. 3, 197–225 (1970).

    Google Scholar 

  41. Miyano, S., “Life Tables of Colonies and Workers in a Paper Wasp, Polistes chinensis antennalis (Hymenoptera: Vespidae),” Res. Popul. Ecol. 22, 69–88 (1980).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Naumann, M., “Swarming Behavior: Evidence for Communication in Social Wasps,” Science 189, 642–644 (1975).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Nepomnyashchikh, V.A. and Podgornyi, K.A., “Development of Ordered Behavior in Response to Random Stimuli in Larvae of the Caddisfly Chaetopteryx villosa Fabr. (Limnophilidae: Trichoptera: Insecta),” Zh. Obshch. Biol. 55(3), 328–336 (1994).

    Google Scholar 

  44. Nikolis, G. and Prigogine, I., Cognition of the Complex (Mir, Moscow, 1990) [in Russian].

    Google Scholar 

  45. O’Donnell, S. and Jeanne, R.L., “Notes on an Army Ant (Eciton burchelli) Raid on a Social Wasp Colony (Agelaia yepocapa) in Costa Rica,” J. Trop. Ecol. 6, 507–509 (1990).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Podlazov, A.V., “The Self-Organized Criticality Theory, or the Science of Complexity,” in The Future of Applied Mathematics: Lectures for Young Researchers (Editorial URSS, Moscow, 2005), pp. 404–426 [in Russian].

    Google Scholar 

  47. Post, D.C. and Jeanne, R.L., “Colony Defense against Ants by Polistes fuscatus (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in Wisconsin,” J. Kansas Entomol. Soc. 54, 599–615 (1981).

    Google Scholar 

  48. Post, D.C., Mohamed, M.A., Coppel, H.C., and Jeanne, R.L., “Identification of Ant Repellent Allomone Produced by Social Wasp Polistes fuscatus (Hymenoptera: Vespidae),” J. Chem. Ecol. 10, 1799–1807 (1984).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. Radchenko, A.T., “An Eco-Faunistic Characteristic of Ants of the Black Sea Reserve and Adjacent Territories,” Vestnik Zool. 84(2), 20–23 (1984).

    Google Scholar 

  50. Rettenmeyer, C.W., Chadab-Crepet, R., Naumann, M.G., and Morales, L., “Comparative Foraging by Neotropical Army Ants,” in Proc. 1st Int. Symp. Int. Union for the Study of Social Insects (1983), pp. 59–75.

  51. Richards, O.W. and Richards, M.J., “Observations on the Social Wasps of South America (Hymenoptera Vespidae),” Trans. R. Ent. Soc. London 102, 1–170 (1951).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Rusina, L.Yu., Polistine Wasps in Natural and Anthropogenic Landscapes of the Lower Dnieper Area (Kherson Gos. Univ., 2006) [in Russian].

  53. Rusina, L.Yu., “Reaction of Parasitoids of the Paper Wasp Polistes dominulus (Christ) (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae) to the Host Distribution,” Entomol. Obozr. 87(3), 514–536 (2008) [Entomol. Review 88 (8), 881–897 (2008)].

    Google Scholar 

  54. Rusina, L.Yu., “Structural and Functional Organization of Paper Wasp Populations (Hymenoptera, Vespidae),” Trudy Russ. Entomol. Obshch. 79, 1–217 (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  55. Smith, A.R., O’Donnell, S., and Jeanne, R.L., “Correlated Evolution of Colony Defense and Social Structure: a Comparative Analysis in Eusocial Wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae),” Evol. Ecol. Research 3, 331–344 (2001).

    Google Scholar 

  56. Strassmann, J.E., “Parasitoids, Predators, and Group Size in the Paper Wasp, Polistes exclamans,” Ecology 62(5), 1225–1233 (1981).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Strassmann, J.E., Queller, D.C., and Hughes, C.R., “Predation and the Evolution of Sociality in the Paper Wasp Polistes bellicosus,” Ecology 69, 1497–1505 (1988).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Theraulaz, G., Bonabeau, E., and Deneubourg, J.-L., “Self-Organization of Hierarchies in Animal Societies: the Case of the Primitively Eusocial Wasp Polistes dominulus Christ,” J. Theor. Biol. 174, 313–323 (1995).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  59. Togni, O.C. and Giannotti, E., “Nest Defense Behavior against the Attack of Ants in Colonies of Pre-Emergent Mischocyttarus cerberus (Hymenoptera, Vespidae),” Sociobiol. 50, 1–20 (2007).

    Google Scholar 

  60. Togni, O.C. and Giannotti, E., “Nest Defense Behavior against Ant Attacks in Post-Emergent Colonies of Wasp Mischocyttarus cerberus (Hymenoptera, Vespidae),” Acta. Ethol. 11, 43–54 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  61. Turillazzi, S. and Ugolini, A., “Rubbing Behavior in Some European Polistes (Hymenoptera, Vespidae),” Monit. Zool. Ital. N. S. 13, 67–70 (1979).

    Google Scholar 

  62. Tyutyunov, Yu.V., Sapukhin, N.Yu., Senina, I.N., and Arditi, R., “An Explicit Model of Seeking Behavior of a Predator,” Zh. Obshch. Biol. 63(2), 137–148 (2002).

    Google Scholar 

  63. Varela, F., Thompson, E., and Rosch, E., The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience (MIT Press, Cambridge, 1991).

    Google Scholar 

  64. Vesey-FitzGerald, D., “Social Wasps (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) from Trinidad, with a Note on the Genus Trypoxylon Latreille,” Trans. R. Ent. Soc. London 87, 181–191 (1938).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  65. Wenzel, J.W., “Evolution of Nest Architecture,” in The Social Biology of Wasps (Cornell Univ. Press, New York), pp. 480–519.

  66. West-Eberhard, M.J., “The Social Biology of Polistine Wasps,” Misc. Publ. Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan 140, 1–101 (1969).

    Google Scholar 

  67. West-Eberhard, M.J., “The Nature and Evolution of Swarming in Tropical Social Wasps (Vespidea, Polistinae, Polybiini),” in Social Insects in the Tropics (Univ. Paris-Nord, 1982), pp., 97–128.

  68. West-Eberhard, M.J., “Scent-Trail Diversion, a Novel Defense against Ants by Tropical Social Wasps,” Biotropica 21(3), 280–281 (1989).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  69. Yamane, S., “Ecological Factors Influencing the Colony Cycle of Polistes Wasps,” in Natural History and Evolution of Paper-Wasps. Ed. by S. Turillazzi and M.J. West-Eberhard (Oxford Univ. Press., 1996), pp. 75–97.

  70. Yoshikawa, K., “Introductory Studies on the Life Economy of Polistine Wasps. I. Scope of Problems and Consideration on the Solitary Stage,” Bul. Osaka Mus. Nat. Hist. 15, 3–27 (1962).

    Google Scholar 

  71. Zakharov, A.A., “Nomadic Territoriality in Army Ants of the Genus Eciton,” Zool. Zh. 68(12), 47–56 (1989).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kherson State University, Kherson, 73000, Ukraine

    L. Yu. Rusina

Authors
  1. L. Yu. Rusina
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to L. Yu. Rusina.

Additional information

Original Russian Text © L.Yu. Rusina, 2010, published in Zoologicheskii Zhurnal, 2010, Vol. 89, No. 12, pp. 1520–1530.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rusina, L.Y. Some aspects of interrelations between ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) and polistine wasps (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Entmol. Rev. 91, 241–252 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0013873811020126

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0013873811020126

Keywords

Search

Navigation