ABSTRACT
Polistes paper wasps in the Fuscopolistes subgenus (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) can be serious pests when they swarm at tall man-made structures. Chemical attractants may be useful to trap such paper wasps when they achieve pest status. Polistes venom has been shown to elicit a variety of behavioral responses in congeneric wasps, making it a source for potential chemical attractants. The compound N-(3-methylbutyl)acetamide is a principal volatile component in the venom of many female vespid wasps, including numerous Polistes species. We report the presence of N-(3-methylbutyl)acetamide in autumn gynes of Polistes metricus Say, Polistes bellicosus Cresson, and Polistes dorsalis (F.), as well as workers of Polistes aurifer (Saussure), P. bellicosus, P. metricus, and P. dorsalis. In field tests conducted in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Washington, N-(3-methylbutyl)acetamide attracted male and female P. aurifer and P. metricus, as well as male P. dorsalis and P. bellicosus. Thus, N-(3-methylbutyl)acetamide may be a useful lure for trapping these paper wasps in pest situations.
Subject(s)
Hymenoptera , Wasps , Acetamides , Animals , Female , Florida , Georgia , Male , South Carolina , Venoms , WashingtonABSTRACT
We investigated associative learning of food odors by the European paper wasp Polistes dominula Christ (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) because of consistent low rates of attraction to food materials in laboratory assays. We hypothesized that wasps in nature exhibit nonspecific food-finding behavior until locating a suitable food, and then respond more strongly and specifically to odors associated with that food reward. Female P. dominula workers exhibited higher rates of attraction in a flight tunnel to piped odors of fermented fruit purees following previous experience with that puree, compared to wasps with no prior experience with the fermented fruits. Attraction behavior included upwind-oriented flight and casting within the odor plume, indicative of chemoanemotaxis. Synthetic chemicals representative of volatiles P. dominula may encounter in nature while foraging was also tested. Similar increases in attraction responses occurred following feeding experience with a sugar solution that included either 3-methyl-1-butanol or pear ester, but not eugenol. These experimental results support the hypothesis of associative learning of food odors in P. dominula. We discuss the ecological relevance of our results and suggest an alternative approach to trap paper wasps in pest situations utilizing learned chemical attractants.
