This paper describes the characterization of a set of nine microsatellite markers for the pipe-organ mud-dauber wasp, Trypoxylon albitarse F. (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae), a common solitary wasp species in Brazil. Eight of the nine loci described were found to be polymorphic. The number of alleles ranged from three to 11. Observed and expected heterozygosity on the population level ranged from 0.135 to 0.891 and 0.177 to 0.865, respectively. Genotypic analyses revealed no deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium or linkage disequilibrium after sequential Bonferroni correction. Cross-species amplification was also tested for nine related species and positive amplifications were found in most of the assays. These markers will be useful in studies involving relatedness analysis and investigations of the population genetics of these wasps., Juliano Da Costa Almeida ... [et al.]., and Obsahuje seznam literatury
At a nest site in Northern Italy of females of the weevil-hunting digger wasp Cerceris arenaria L. (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) the provisioning activity and predator-prey relationship were investigated, in particular their specialization in choice of prey. Females were active from middle of June to end of July, and from 8.00 to 19.00. The wasps made provisioning flights throughout the day, mostly in late morning and early afternoon. Individual wasps generally only hunted for 1 or 2 prey species of all those available, maybe because of their higher abundance. The size of prey, which is positively correlated with that of the female wasps, seems to be the main factor determining choice of prey. The nature of the provisioning flights seems to be related to the size of the prey, being more frequent and shorter for smaller weevils. The correlation between prey and wasp biomass is discussed in relation to the size range of the wasps.