Social organization and division of labor of Mischocyttarus drewseni de Saussure, 1857 (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the behavioral repertoire of the social wasp Mischocyttarus drewseni based on the activities carried out by the founders in the pre-emergence phase and by the queens, workers, and males in the post-emergence phase and decline. Twenty-five colonies were observed, allowing for the identification of the behavioral repertoire. Twenty-eight behaviors were recorded, covering six categories. There is a division of labor between foundresses during the pre-emergence phase and between workers and queens during the post-emergence phase, with males involved in only a few activities. Founders and queens presented a convergent behavioral repertoire. Workers showed the greatest diversity of behaviors, especially about foraging. Exclusively, queens performed the observed acts of oviposition, and M. drewseni queens were more intensely engaged in pulp foraging than workers and founders. Inside the nest, the queens spent more time in the cells or near the comb than the workers. Dominance behavior was more pronounced in foundresses and queens than in workers. These results confirm the behavioral differences between these castes.