Frank E. Kurczewski

Comparative larvipositional behaviours and cleptoparasitic frequencies of Nearctic species of Miltogrammini (Diptera: Sarcophagidae)

Sixty-two species of pompilid and sphecid wasps were studied in order to assess their associated miltogrammine flies and frequencies of cleptoparasitism. A total of 1342 wasp cells from 852 nests were excavated during 1981–1987, contents analysed and information recorded. Nine species of Miltogrammini were reared from the cell contents, with the number of host wasp species in parentheses: Senotainia trilineata (19); Phrosinella aurifacies (17); Senotainia vigilans (9); Metopia luggeri (5); Macronychia confundens (2); Hilarella hilarella (1); Senotainia rubriventris (1); Sphenometopa tergata (1) and Taxigramma heteroneura (1). Detailed descriptions of the cleptoparasitic strategies of the flies, especially mode of finding the wasp, prey or wasps nest and subsequent larviposition therein are presented for Hilarella hilarella, Metopia luggeri, Phrosinella aurifacies, Senotainia rubriventris, S. trilineata, S. vigilans, Sphenometopa tergata and Taxigramma heteroneura. Senotainia vigilans and Hilarella hilare...

Observations on the nesting behaviour of seven species of Crabro (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae)

Summary Data are presented on the nests and prey of seven species of Crabro from diverse localities in North America. In two instances (virgatus and largior) this is the first published report. Further information is provided for the following previously studied species: argusinus, advena, cribrellifer, latipes, and monticola. Behavioural differences among these species are not conspicuous. Most are rather general fly predators, but cribrellifer appears to show a strong preference for Asilidae. There are also differences in type of soil used for nesting and in antipredator behaviour such as approach flights and daily cycles of activity. Two species, largior and monticola, provision their nests early in the morning, before miltogrammine flies are active in numbers. All species probably make cells of two sizes, larger cells containing more prey and producing females, smaller cells males.

Nesting Behavior of Ammophila harti (Fernald) (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae)

The nesting behavior of Ammophila harti was studied during 1982-1984 in a sandy region of central New York. Two to three generations occurred per year. First generation females were more active in the morning while second generation females were equally active in the morning and afternoon; in addition, the activity rate (observed behaviors/female/hr) of second generation females was greater than that of first generation females. Females maintained several nests simultaneously; first generation females maintained fewer nests per week but more nests per lifetime than second generation females. The nest was short and unicellular, contained a single wasp larva, and was provisioned progressively with mostly Geometridae and Noctuidae larvae over several days. Cell depth decreased over the summer and was influenced by the moisture content of the sand; nests located in wetter sand were consistently shallower than nests located in drier sand. Use of nests differed between generations with more use occurring in the first generation. Active success (nests containing wasp progeny/nests used) and reproductive efficiency (nests containing wasp progeny/all constructed nests) were equal in both generations. The sex ratio of the wasp progeny of each generation differed; a 1:3.13 ratio (males: females) occurred in the first generation progeny and a 1.2:1 ratio in the second generation progeny.

Observations on the nesting of three species of Cerceris (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae).

Quantitative data obtained from the nests and provisioning activities of 3 species of Cerceris are presented. Those for C. flavofasciata floridensis compare favorably with information on the nominate subspecies and reveal 4 new genera and 5 new species of prey Chrysomelidae. Data from 2 populations of C. rufopicta confirm previous nesting information on this species, bring to light 2 new genera and 6 new species of chrysomelid prey and introduce a new prey family, Eucnemidae. Biomass data in the form of total prey weight per cell for C. fumipennis substantiate previous information on male and female cells. Observations on the Florida population of C. fumipennis reveal the use of conspecific nests from previous generations and disclose a new cleptoparasite, Senotainia rubriventris (Macquart) (Sarcophagidae).

Observations on the Behaviors of Some Scoliidae and Pompilidae (Hymenoptera) in Florida

The first report of burrowing behavior in a male nearctic scoliid, Campsomeris plumipes fossulana, and the first description of the nesting behavior of the pompilid Anoplius bequaerti are presented. Observations on the nesting behaviors and nests of the spider wasps Episyron conterminus posterus, Anoplius apiculatus pretiosus, and A. stenotus are also given. New prey families for Auplopus mellipes mellipes and Agenioideus birkmanni are included. An emendation is made to an earlier paper (Kurczewski 1981) on nesting behavior of Florida Pompilidae.

A Review of Nesting Behavior in the Genus Entomognathus, with Notes on E. memorialis Banks (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae)

The genus Entomognathus contains at least 4o species, half in the Ethiopian and in the Palaearctic, Nearctic, Oriental, and Neotropical regions (Leclercq, 1954, 1955, 1961, 1963; Nouvel and Ribaut, 1956; Krombein, 1963). Relatively little is known about the nesting behaviors, host preferences, or life histories of members of this genus. Only the Palaearctic E. (Entomognathus) brevis van der Linden has been studied in any detail, and almost nothing is known about the four U. S. species belonging to the subgenus Toncahua One of the purposes of the present paper is, therefore, to amalgamate information on the host preferences, nesting behaviors, life histories, and immature stages of the species of Entomognathus, based upon a review of the world literature. The major portion of this paper details the components of the nesting behavior of E. (Toncahua) memorialis Banks, describes the mature larva and cocoon, and compares this species and related crabronine and larrine wasps in nesting ethology and larval and cocoon morphology. The adult wasps and prey beetles have been placed in the S. U. N. Y. College of Forestry Insect Museum. and the mature larva has been deposited in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University.

Observations on the nesting and prey of the solitary wasp, Tachysphex inconspicuus, with a review of nesting behavior in the T. obscuripennis species group.

Abstract The nesting behaviors of 10 females of Tachysphex inconspicuus (Kirby) (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) were studied on a sandy, mowed lawn at the La Selva Biological Station in northeastern Costa Rica on 27–29 April 1980. Twenty-four completed nests were observed, excavated, and measured. The nests had oblique, short burrows leading to one or two shallow cells. Prey cockroaches belonging to 11 species of Chorisoneura and Riatia fulgida (Saussure) (Blattaria: Blattellidae), all tropical wet forest canopy indicator species, were removed from the cells, weighed, and identified. The cockroaches consisted mainly of adult females, selectively preyed upon over adult males and nymphs due to their larger sizes. The aggregate prey mass in cells was separable into prospective larger (heavier) female and smaller (lighter) male cells. Wasps usually oviposited on the heaviest cockroach in a cell, in most cases an adult female. Atypical genus behavior included (1) prey being carried to one side of the wasp and perhaps grasped by a hindleg during removal of the temporary entrance closure and nest entry and (2) wasps egg being laid affixed to a forecoxal corium and extending backward in a longitudinally posteriad position across the preys ventral thorax. A comparison with the nesting behavior of other species in the Tachysphex obscuripennis species group is made.

Comparative Nesting Behaviors of Crabro Rufibasis and Crabro Arcadiensis (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae: Crabroninae)

The nesting behaviors of Crabro rufibasis (Banks) and C. arcadiensis Miller, 2 ground-nesting predatory wasps native to Florida, were compared in detail. Among the features examined were nesting habitat, male behavior, nest structure, nest construction, sequence of activities in the nest, daily activity patterns, orientation flights, hunting behavior, prey transport, provisioning and storing times, nest provisions, prey positions, egg placement, larval development, cocoon structure cleptoparasites, seasonal occurrence, and apparent population sizes. Emergence cages placed over completed nests of C. rufibasis of the January-February generation yielded wasp progeny and an unexpectedly large number of cleptoparasitic sarcophagid flies. Direct and circumstantial evidence suggested that C. rufibasis is primarily a winter species in southern Florida and has only a partial second generation in the spring, whereas C. arcadiensis is apparently univoltine in the spring. C. rufibasis and C. arcadiensis were remarkably similar behaviorally but differed partly in seasonal occurrence, choice of nesting sites, and proportions of fly families taken as prey. These apparent behavioral differences may have developed only recently as C. rufibasis moved into areas modified by man for fruit production and ranching. Both Floridian species differ from other known Crabro in having unusually long vertical burrows with nearly all cells within 11 cm of a vertical line through the entrance.

Nesting behavior of Philanthus sanbornii in Florida (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae).

The activities of an aggregation of Philanthus sanbornii were studied at the Archbold Biological Station, Lake Placid, FL. Females sat head outward in the entrances, investigated conspecific nests, grappled near entrances, removed sand from their burrows, captured honey bees in front of hives, and flew with prey to their nests. Apis mellifera (Apidae) workers and Colletes brimleyi (Colletidae) males comprised 20 and 24 of 49 prey, respectively, with the remainder being a C. brimleyi female, Halictidae, Megachilidae and Anthophoridae. Three long, deep unfinished nests contained terminal storage chambers and from 3 to 8 rearing cells. From 4 to 9 bees, usually of 2 or 3 families, were stored in a cell. The bees were totally or nearly devoid of pollen and some had presumably been cleaned by the wasps in the storage chambers or burrows. The wasps egg was laid on a bee in the cell in the typical Philanthus position.