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Do digger wasps time their provisioning activity to avoid cuckoo wasps (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae and Chrysididae)?

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Abstract

Strategies adopted by parasitoids and kleptoparasites co-evolve with the defensive adaptations of their hosts, and vice-versa. Hedychrum rutilans and Hedychrum nobile are brood parasites of, respectively, Philanthus triangulum and Cerceris arenaria, two digger wasps that share most aspects of their nesting biology (solitary females dig aggregated nests in the ground and mass-provision the brood with paralyzed insects). We tested the hypothesis that similarity in the hosts’ nesting habits corresponds to similar defensive strategies against these cuckoo wasps. Peak provisioning activity by P. triangulum occurred in late afternoon (and early morning in 1 year) while peak H. rutilans activity was in early afternoon. In contrast, peak provisioning by C. arenaria and peak H. nobile activity occurred in early afternoon. Thus, P. triangulum (as previously found in other populations) appears to have timed its provisioning to avoid its brood parasite whereas C. arenaria did not, rejecting our hypothesis. The daily activity of both chrysidid wasps was positively correlated to air temperature. Host nest density positively affected only H. rutilans activity, in agreement with previous reports for other populations of this species, whereas the daily pattern of activity of the host was the key correlate with the activity of H. nobile. Mortality due to cuckoo wasps was low for both digger wasps, although it was somewhat higher at sites with many nests of P. triangulum. We suggest that perhaps the degree to which digger wasps time their activity to avoid cuckoo wasps is related to the degree of specialization in host choice by their brood parasite. H. rutilans is more highly dependent on P. triangulum, which may have had a greater effect on the timing of provision by its host.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks are due to Maurizio Pavesi (Museo di Storia Naturale di Milano) for the cuckoo wasps determination; to Roberto Fumagalli, Sara Occhipinti, and Alice Mocellin for the help in collecting the field data; and to the Ticino Regional Park, the Adda Sud Regional Park, and Antonio Bianchi to facilitate the field study. Erhard Strohm, Thomas Schmitt, Allan Hook, and John Alcock critically and constructively reviewed the manuscript, gave many suggestions, and revised the English. The present work was supported by a 3-year grant FIRB (Fondo per gli Investimenti della Ricerca di Base) RBAU019H94-001 (2001).

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  1. Dipartimento di Biologia, Sezione di Zoologia e Citologia, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria, 26, 20133, Milano, Italy

    Carlo Polidori, Stefania Bevacqua & Francesco Andrietti

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  1. Carlo Polidori
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  2. Stefania Bevacqua
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Correspondence to Carlo Polidori.

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Polidori, C., Bevacqua, S. & Andrietti, F. Do digger wasps time their provisioning activity to avoid cuckoo wasps (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae and Chrysididae)?. acta ethol 13, 11–21 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-010-0067-4

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