The primary functions of venoms from solitary and social wasps are different. Whereas most solitary wasps sting their prey to paralyze and preserve it, without killing, as the provisions for their progeny, social wasps usually sting to defend their colonies from vertebrate predators. Such distinctive venom properties of solitary and social wasps suggest that the main venom components are likely...

Predictions from the theory of sex ratios in subdivided populations are tested by studying fig wasps (Agaonidae). Observations strongly support the qualitative prediction that fig wasp sex ratios (males/total) decrease with increasing amounts of both inbreeding and competition among male relatives for access to mates (local mate competition). However, the observed sex ratio is consistently lowe...

Understanding the functional impacts of pollinator species losses on plant populations is critical given ongoing pollinator declines. Simulation models of pollination networks suggest that plant communities will be resilient to losing many or even most of the pollinator species in an ecosystem. These predictions, however, have not been tested empirically and implicitly assume that pollination e...

The phenology of plants reflects selection generated by seasonal climatic factors and interactions with other plants and animals, within constraints imposed by their phylogenetic history. Fig trees (Ficus) need to produce figs year-round to support their short-lived fig wasp pollinators, but this requirement is partially de-coupled in dioecious species, where female trees only develop seeds, no...

Geographic trait variations are often caused by locally different selection regimes. As a steep environmental cline along altitude strongly influences adaptive traits, mountain ecosystems are ideal for exploring adaptive differentiation over short distances. We investigated altitudinal floral size variation of Campanula punctata var. hondoensis in 12 populations in three mountain regions of cen...

The biological control potential of parasitic wasps in the field is expected to increase with the provisioning of sugar sources, which increase longevity and replenish carbohydrate reserves. Apanteles aristoteliae is an important parasitoid of Argyrotaenia franciscana, the orange tortrix, an economic pest in fruit crops. In the present study, the effect of sugar diet on the physiological status...

Silene alba, a perennial, dioecious plant, produces flowers that open in the evening and can remain open and receptive to pollination for up to 5 d, though in hot and dry conditions the flowers will wilt during the day only to reopen night after night. In the field, it is visited by two different kinds of pollinators with differential success: moths visit the flowers at night, and their movemen...

Naïve Cotesia vestalis wasps, parasitoids of diamondback moth (DBM) larvae, are attracted to a synthetic blend (Blend A) of host-induced plant volatiles composed of sabinene, n-heptanal, α-pinene, and ( Z)-3-hexenyl acetate, in a ratio of 1.8:1.3:2.0:3.0. We studied whether qualitative (adding ( R)-limonene: Blend B) or quantitative changes (changing ratios: Blend C) to Blend A affected the olf...

Red-throated Caracaras Ibycter americanus (Falconidae) are specialist predators of social wasps in the Neotropics. It had been proposed that these caracaras possess chemical repellents that allow them to take the brood of wasp nests without being attacked by worker wasps. To determine how caracaras exploit nests of social wasps and whether chemical repellents facilitate predation, we: (1) video...