Behavioral Analysis and Ethogram of Mating in the Wasp Sphex latreillei (Lepeletier) (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae).

The present study reevaluates mating in Sphex latreillei (Lepeletier) based on the analysis of 69 filmed reproductive interactions from a population in central Chile. Behaviors recorded before, during, and after copulation were analyzed through Markov chains, identifying statistically significant behavioral transitions that are summarized in a mating ethogram. The results suggest that females exercise choice either during copulation by the means of an internal courtship, or via a post-copulation selection. Both types of inter-sexual selection proposed would explain, in both female and male, the dynamics of a sexual behavior crucial for a reproductive success.

Host location by ichneumonid parasitoids is associated with nest dimensions of the host bee species.

Parasitoid fitness depends on the ability of females to locate a host. In some species of Ichneumonoidea, female parasitoids detect potential hosts through vibratory cues emanating from them or through vibrational sounding produced by antennal tapping on the substrate. In this study, we (1) describe host location behaviors in Grotea gayi Spinola (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) and Labena sp. on nests of Manuelia postica Spinola (Hymenoptera: Apidae), (2) compare nest dimensions between parasitized and unparasitized nests, (3) correlate the length of M. postica nests with the number of immature individuals developing, and (4) establish the relative proportion of parasitized nests along the breeding period of M. postica. Based on our results, we propose that these parasitoids use vibrational sounding as a host location mechanism and that they are able to assess host nest dimensions and choose those which may provide them with a higher fitness. Finally, we discuss an ancestral host-parasitoid relationship between Manuelia and ichneumonid species.