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1 September 2012 A Free Ride and Lunch: Stylopization in the Solitary Hunting Wasp, Ammophila Fernaldi Murray and A. Pictipennis (Walsh) (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) By Paraxenos Lugubris Pierce (Strepsiptera)
Jeyaraney Kathirithamby, Gary K. Lechner, Dino P. Mcmahon, Alexandra L. Bryson, J. Spencer Johnston
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

The intricate nest building, cleaning and provisioning habits of the solitary hunting wasps Ammophila fernaldi Murray and A. pictipennis (Walsh) (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) are supposed to have developed in response to parasite pressure. This paper presents the first study to record the behavior of phoresy of Paraxenos lugubris Pierce (Strepsiptera: Stylopidae). Adapting to the provisioning of single-cell nests of the Ammophila sp., it is the tiny, free-living, first instar larvae of P. lugubris, that are phoretic. They are carried, not by a wasp stylopized by a female P. lugubris producing first instar larvae, but by an unstylopized foraging wasp, thereby discreetly gaining entry to a single-cell nest before it is sealed. Multiple first instar P. lugubris larvae are often taken by the host, A. fernaldi and A. pictipennis, to the single egg/ larvae in the cell, resulting in superparasitism. These observations further demonstrate that Strepsiptera have developed mechanisms for parasitizing a range of hosts, including solitary wasps that develop in sealed cells.

Jeyaraney Kathirithamby, Gary K. Lechner, Dino P. Mcmahon, Alexandra L. Bryson, and J. Spencer Johnston "A Free Ride and Lunch: Stylopization in the Solitary Hunting Wasp, Ammophila Fernaldi Murray and A. Pictipennis (Walsh) (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) By Paraxenos Lugubris Pierce (Strepsiptera)," Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 114(4), 464-475, (1 September 2012). https://doi.org/10.4289/0013-8797.114.4.464
Published: 1 September 2012
KEYWORDS
phoresy
superparasitism
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