Differences in long-chain hydrocarbon mixtures among reproductive and nonreproductive individuals have been often revealed in social insects. However, very few papers demonstrated that these signatures actually act as contact pheromones used by nonreproductive to recognize the presence of a related queen in the colony. Cuticular and glandular hydrocarbons of Polistes paper wasps have been exten...

This is the first report of arthropods associated with carrion in Venezuela, using laboratory bred rats (Rattus norvegicus). Rat carcasses were exposed to colonization by arthropods in neighboring montane savanna and cloud forest habitats in the state of Miranda. The taxonomic composition of the arthropods varied between both ecosystems. Scarabaeidae, Silphidae, Micropezidae, Phoridae, Vespidae...

The colony defense behavior of the wasp Mischocyttarus cerberus Richards (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) was studied to verify whether there were different reactions of wasps of different ages and hierarchical positions during attacks of ants. Detailed nest mapping was first performed, then the wasps were marked and were divided in four distinct categories: queens, older workers, younger workers and ma...

Angiopolybia pallens is a swarm-founding wasp that occurs in Atlantic and Amazonian rainforests, which have been isolated from each other by a large arid corridor in central Brazil since the Tertiary. In this study, we used data from polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism of 16S rDNA to infer some aspects of the genetic diversity and evolutionary history of this soci...

In this study, we recognize and review a total of 19 species of the genus Symmorphus Wesmael from China. We also provide a key to these species. Three new species are described and illustrated, namely Symmorphus (Symmorphus) tianchiensis Li & Chen, sp. n., S. (S.) cavatus Li & Chen, sp. n., and S. (S.) nigriclypeus Li & Chen, sp. n. The following four species are newly recorded from China: Symm...

The genus Antodynerus de Saussure, 1855 is reviewed from the Indian subcontinent. Three species with one additional subspecies are present, namely Antodynerus flavescens flavescens (Fabricius, 1775), A. f. karachiensis Giordani Soika, 1970, A. limbatus (de Saussure, 1852), and A. punctatipennis (de Saussure, 1853). The parasitic association of strepsipteran insects and the symbiotic association...

The genus Paraleptomenes Giordani Soika, 1970 is reviewed for the Indian subcontinent. A new species Paraleptomenes darugiriensis Kumar, Carpenter & Sharma, sp. nov. is described. The male of P. rufoniger Giordani Soika, 1994 is described for the first time. The distribution records of P. humbertianus (de Saussure, 1867), P. miniatus mephitis (Cameron, 1901), P. miniatus miniatus (de Saussure, ...

Based on DNA barcoding analysis and morphological comparison, new synonymy is proposed for Eumenes punctatus de Saussure, 1852 =E. asioboreus Kim & Sk. Yamane, 2001, syn. nov. Independent status of the Far Eastern species E. rubrofemoratus Giordani Soika, 1941 from the transpalearctic E. coarctatus (Linnaeus, 1758) is supported, suggesting their recent origin with comparatively low genetic dive...