A Preliminary Investigation of the Interactions between the Brood Parasite Chalcoela iphitalis and Its Polistine Wasp Hosts

• Published in: Insects (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 8; no. 3; p. 89
• Main Authors: Nacko, Scott, Henderson, Gregg
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 24-08-2017; MDPI
• Subjects: Butterflies & moths; Chalcoela iphitalis; ectoparasite; Eggs; Host-parasite interactions; Hymenoptera; Infestation; Laboratories; Life history; Mischocyttarus; Oviposition; Parasitism; Polistes; social; ectoparasite; Polistes; Mischocyttarus; social
• ISSN: 2075-4450; 2075-4450
• DOI: 10.3390/insects8030089

The life history of
-a common brood parasite of social wasps-has been described in previous literature, but critical information regarding oviposition behavior and possible differential host parasitism remain cryptic. Here we report on infestation levels of this moth in field populations of paper wasps in
and
, as well as the oviposition behavior of the moths under a laboratory setting. We found evidence for differential parasitism between paper wasp genera in the field, with almost 50% nest infestation in
and no occurrences of moth infestation in
. Laboratory results revealed that oviposition occurs only at night and is stimulated by contact with the wasp nest or adult wasps. In this setting, eggs were laid largely on the substrate above or adjacent to the host nest, but not on the nest itself.