Nesting plants and colony defense strategies of Chartergus globiventris (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in the Brazilian Cerrado

The nests of the Neotropical social wasp Chartergus Lepeletier, 1836 are of the phragmocyttarous type with an initial comb attached to the substrate and covered by a protective casing. The second comb includes additional cells with its sides, also, covered by a casing and with an opening between both combs (Andena et al., 2009).

Chartergus spp. nests have been reported on different plant species from the Cerrado to tropical forests, some associated with bird nests (Souza et al., 2017). The nesting behavior of species of this genus is important because social wasps are used in biological control programs as these insects prey pests in different crops such as coffee, corn, eucalyptus, potatoes, and vegetables (Medeiros et al., 2019; Cabral et al., 2024). This important function increases the need of understanding and documenting the defense strategies of social wasp species to use these insects in pest management programs (Prezoto et al., 2019).

The strategies of social wasps and other social Hymenoptera for defense against predators includes passively behavior and chemicals as repellents or sticky traps, besides active defenses against predators, such as jawed, poisoning and stings (Jeanne, 2021).

The objective of this study was to report information on plant species with nests and defense strategies of Chartergus globiventris Saussure, 1854 (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in the Cerrado biome.

1. Materials and Methods

Colonies of C. globiventris were found in the Cerrado biome in the municipality of Angical (12° 0' 25” S 44° 41' 38” W), Bahia state, Brazil in areas of riparian forest, from November 2020 to January 2021 and at the Rio Pandeiros Wildlife Refuge (15º 23' 31”S; 44º 53' 43”W), in deciduous forest in Minas Gerais state, Brazil, from February to November 2014.

Colonies of C. globiventris were recorded in an active survey with the inspection of rocky outcrops, cavities in trunks and treetops in pre-existing trails in the areas studied (Municipality of Angical and Rio Pandeiros Wildlife Refuge) between 08:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. by two to four researchers per area. Sampling took place during two months in Angical totaling 36 hours and 20 days in the Rio Pandeiros Wildlife Refuge with a sampling effort of six hours per day, totaling 120 hours. Individuals from each colony were photographed and captured with an entomological net and their defense behavior observed during these procedures, using the Ad libitum methodology (Altmann, 1974). The individuals collected in the colonies were stored in flasks with 70% alcohol and used to identify this species by Dr. Marcos Magalhães de Souza from the Zoology Laboratory of IFSULDEMINAS, Campus Inconfidentes. The wasp specimens are deposited in the “Coleção Biológica de Vespas Sociais (CBVS)” of the same institution (registration 06442 to 06461-2021). One of the nests was collected and its morphometric measurements obtained.

2. Results

Nine C. globiventris nests were found in areas of riparian forest in the municipality of Angical, and six in the Rio Pandeiros Wildlife Refuge, all in the Cerrado biome (Figure 1A-1D) and with white or light gray color.

Figure 1
Nests of Chartergus globiventris (Hymenoptera: Vespidae): A e B - Areas at the Angical, Bahia state, Brazil; C, D and E - Areas at the Rio Pandeiros Wildlife Refuge, Minas Gerais state, Brazil.

Six nests were found on Triplaris gardneriana Wedd. (Polygonaceae), one on Cordia glabrata Mart. (Boraginaceae), one on Hymenaea martiana Hayne (Fabaceae) and one on Libidibia ferrea Mart. (Fabaceae). All nests of this social wasp in the municipality of Angical and the Rio Pandeiros Wildlife Refuge were found between 4 m and 10 m high (Figure 1E).

The C. globiventris individuals flew towards the researchers and stung them during their approach for photos and specimen collection. The length of the C. globiventris nest ranged from 15.44 cm to 31.22 cm with an opening of 0.5 to 0.8 cm in diameter at its lower central region.

3. Discussion

The diversity and abundance of social wasps depend on resources available for nesting and foraging, including water, explaining the C. globiventris nesting in the riparian or gallery forests (Santos et al., 2009). The nesting of this wasp on T. gardneriana may also be related to food resources, such as pollen grains with starch and nectar in flowers of this plant (Custodio et al., 2017).

The white or light gray colors of C. globiventris nests (Hozumi et al., 2010) can help temperature control in the nests of this wasp (Jeanne, 1996) frequently found at treetops where they are more exposed to high temperatures, as in northern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The use of cellulose from trees where this wasp nests also explains its colour (Wenzel, 2020) and may be a defense strategy for C. globiventris, camouflaging their nests to reduce or avoid predation (Wenzel, 2020).

The aggressive flying and stings by C. globiventris on the researchers can be a defense behavior against mammals or birds, that commonly attack Chartergus spp. nests (Le Guen et al., 2015; McCann et al., 2013), although they have been found associated with those of the bird Myiozetetes similis Spix in the Pantanal biome, Brazil (Almeida and Anjos-Silva, 2015).

Defense strategies such as camouflage, nesting near ant colonies, and aggressiveness, reported for Chartergellus golfitensis West-Eberhard, 2010 and Polybia rejecta Fabricius, 1798 (Chavarría-Pizarro and West-Eberhard, 2010; Souza et al., 2013) is related to nest defense at higher and more visible places and therefore more susceptible to attack (Jeanne, 1975).

The reduced diameter of the entrance to the C. globiventris nest, average of 0.8 cm, may also be associated with defense against ants, with only one individual of this species blocking the entrance against ants, as observed for Chartergus artifex Christ., 1791 (Richards, 1978). The width of the passages between the combs within the nest is equivalent to that of a brood cell, possibly an adaptation allowing a single wasp to block ant access to the combs with larvae or pupae in the lower chambers (Jeanne, 1975). The resistant envelope of some social wasp species nesting on treetops, as C. artifex, as a defense against birds and monkeys (Detoni et al., 2021), may explain the high resistance of C. globiventris nests collected and kept intact and undamaged since 2014.

The information presented reinforce the diversity in defense strategies of social wasps, but camouflage and aggressiveness are the most used by C. globiventris. The nesting of C. globiventris on plant substrates in riparian or gallery forests may be associated to food availability and the nesting above four meters high may be a defense strategy.

Acknowledgements

Gabriel Teófilo Guedes da Silva for the support with the photo board. To the Brazilian institutions “Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)”, “Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES Finance Code 001)”, “Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG)” “Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Amazonas (FAPEAM)”, “Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Sul de Minas - Campus Inconfidentes” and “Programa Cooperativo sobre Proteção Florestal (PROTEF) do Instituto de Pesquisas e Estudos Florestais (IPEF)” for financial support.

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Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  07 July 2023
• Date of issue
  2023

History

• Received
  25 Sept 2022
• Accepted
  02 May 2023