Fig wasps and fig trees are mutually dependent, with each of the 800 or so species of fig trees (Ficus, Moraceae) typically pollinated by a single species of fig wasp (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae). Molecular evidence suggests that the relationship existed over 65 Ma, during the Cretaceous. Here, we record the discovery of the oldest known fossil fig wasps, from England, dated at 34 Ma. They possess ...

1 The effects of floral resources of several important non-crop host plants of Lygus lineolaris on the longevity of Anaphes iole , one of its natural enemies, was studied. 2 Median longevity of A. iole wasps provisioned with floral resources ( Erigeron annuus , Oenothera speciosa , Lamium amplexicaule , and Capsella bursapastoris ) was in the range 1.27 – 3.24 days, and did not differ from wasp...

Stabilimenta are zigzag and spiral designs of seemingly conspicuous silk included at the centers of many spider webs. We examined the association of stabilimenta with the ability of spiders to defend themselves against predatory mud-dauber wasps. We found that Argiope trifasciata (Araneae, Araneidae) were signiŽ cantly more likely to survive attacks by Chalybion caeruleum and Sceliphron caement...

Vespula germanica (F.) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) is a highly invasive social wasp that exhibits a rich behavioral repertoire in which learning and memory play a fundamental role in foraging. The learning abilities of these wasps were analyzed while relocating a food source and whether V. germanica foragers are capable of discriminating between different orientation patterns and generalizing their...

Social wasp colonies can be transferred to agroecosystems in order to control pest populations. Some failures of such transfers are common because wasps may abandon the nest immediately after the colony’s transfer. Knowing the nesting habits of wasps in agroecosystems could improve the success of colony transfer during wasp management. Thus, we recorded social wasp nests in a eucalyptus plantat...

Completely parthenogenetic Trichogramma wasps can be rendered permanently bisexual by treatment with three different antibiotics or high temperatures. The evidence strongly suggests that maternally inherited microorganisms cause parthenogenesis in these wasps. Theories predict female-biased sex ratio in offspring under the influence of maternally inherited symbionts, but extreme sex ratios of 1...

Spalangia endius were collected from fly pupae, primarily house fly and stable fly, from a poultry house in Indiana. Male and female wasps did not differ within and across host species in host size usage. Also, despite stable fly pupae being significantly smaller than house fly pupae, the proportion of male wasps emerging from the two host species was similar. __________________________________...

the present study provides information about the cryptinae and ichneumoninae (hymenoptera: ichneumonidae) species collected from kerman province, during 2013. a total of 12 species belonging to 10 genera of these two subfamilies were collected and identified. they were cryptus inculcator (linnaeus, 1758); dichrogaster longicaudata (thomson, 1884); dichrogaster saharator (aubert, 1964) and mesos...

Understanding intraspecific geographic variation in animal signals poses a challenging evolutionary problem. Studies addressing geographic variation typically focus on signals used in mate-choice, however, geographic variation in intrasexual signals involved in competition is also known to occur. In Polistes dominulus paper wasps, females have black facial spots that signal dominance: individua...

In the two decades since Janzen described how to be a fig, more than 200 papers have appeared on fig wasps (Agaonidae) and their host plants (Ficus spp., Moraceae). Fig pollination is now widely regarded as a model system for the study of coevolved mutualism, and earlier reviews have focused on the evolution of resource conflicts between pollinating fig wasps, their hosts, and their parasites. ...