Thèse d'agrégation de l'enseignement supérieur--Liège. / Bibliography: p. [325]-352.

A comparative study between populations of Mellinus arvensis (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) was carried out in Britain. Large variations in size were found between populations and these were correlated with environmental, thermal, and biological factors. A latitudinal dine accounted for some of the variation, with larger wasps found at southerly locations. This was partially explained by climatic patterns and wasp warm-up rates. A hypothesis involving the interaction of environmental, behavioural and morphological factors was suggested to account for the remaining unexplained size variation between populations. It was found that at sites where the ground is compact and difficult to dig through, nests are more valuable in terms of time required to dig them. A strategy of searching for rather than digging a nest becomes viable. Wasps do not seem to be able to distinguish between occupied and abandoned nests, and aggressive interactions at nests occur between wasps searching for a nest and the nest residents. Aggression is more frequent at sites where pressure from searchers is greatest, that is, at sites where nest construction is most difficult and costly. Consequently, large wasps, which have greater success in aggressive encounters, are selected for at these sites. At sites where the ground is loose and easy to dig through, a more successful reproductive tactic appears to be maximisation of offspring number, resulting in many, small offspring. Behavioural observations suggested that M. arvensis is capable of, at least, limited endothermy, although this could not be confirmed in laboratory experiments. Similar observations and results were obtained from several other sphecid species. However, endothermy was found in two sphecid species of the genus Bembix in Portugal, suggesting that endothermy may be more widespread than previously thought.

Podium denticulatum é uma espécie de vespa solitária que pertence ao gênero Podium, família Sphecidae, sendo encontrada desde o México o Brasil. As fêmeas desse gênero são caçadoras, capturam e aprovisionam o ninho com baratas paralisadas. As espécies de Podium nidificam em cavidades preexistentes, como ninhos abandonados de outras espécies de vespas, cavidades em troncos e em ninhos-armadilha (NA). O principal objetivo do presente trabalho foi estudar os aspectos comportamentais das atividades realizadas pelas fêmeas de P.denticulatum no processo de nidificação, e a obtenção de dados do tempo de desenvolvimento, número de gerações por ano e novas informações sobre a biologia e fenologia da espécie, permitindo uma análise comparativa com aquelas reportadas por outros autores. O estudo foi realizado no Campus da USP de Ribeirão Preto, SP, onde o clima é tropical quente e úmido. Foram utilizados NA que consistiram de gomos de bambus, fechados em uma das extremidades pelo nó, com comprimentos e diâmetros variados. Esses NA foram inspecionados, frequentemente, de setembro de 2003 a setembro de 2005, para constatação de fêmeas trabalhando e coleta de dados. Com isso, pôde-se constatar que as fêmeas exibem comportamento de inspeção e escolha dos NA antes de começar a captura de presas, as quais são representantes da família Blattellidae. Os ovos são colocados entre o primeiro par de pernas da presa e o desenvolvimento total, ou seja, do ovo até o adulto, foi maior nas fêmeas que nos machos. Uma característica importante observada neste estudo é que as fêmeas fecham a célula ao final do dia caso não tenham completado o aprovisionamento, retornado no dia seguinte. Esse comportamento pode ser interpretado como uma forma de proteção ao alimento larval ou ovo. O material utilizado para fechar as células e o ninho consiste de barro coletado no campo. A parede de fechamento pode ser revestida com uma resina de origem desconhecida. A fêmea pode terminar o aprovisionamento de uma célula em até cinco dias; na conclusão do ninho, ela pode demorar até nove dias, e esse tempo está relacionado à fatores externos. Foram observadas 6 gerações e um período de diapausa e a razão sexual não diferiu significantemente da proporção de 1:1. As fêmeas foram produzidas preferencialmente nas primeiras células de cria, que são dispostas em série linear. Cada ninho continha de 1 a 6 células de cria e, em 43,8% dos ninhos a fêmea construiu uma célula vestibular. Foram encontradas ainda ninhos com célula intercalar e célula vazia de fundo. As paredes de fechamento do ninho foram significantemente mais espessas do que as partições celulares. Os casulos eram de coloração castanho-médio, fusiformes, flexíveis, lisos e mais ou menos brilhantes. Foram encontrados parasitóides da família Chrysididae e Eulophidae (Hymenoptera) e Tachinidae (Díptera) atacando ninhos de P. denticulatum. As atividades de nidificação das fêmeas só foram observadas no período quente e chuvoso. / Podium denticulatum it is a solitary wasp specie which belongs to the Podium class, Sphecidae, found from Mexico to Brazil. The females from this class are hunters, they catch and provide the nest with paralyzed cockroaches that are feed for their lavas. Podium species nesting in preexisting cavities, such as abandoned nests from other species, stem cavities and in nest traps. The major objective in this work it was to study the behavior aspects in detail from the P. denticulatum females, during the nesting process, besides the developing time, generation numbers by year and new information from the biology and phenology from the specie, allowing a comparative analysis from other authors. The study was done at the University of Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto Campus, where the weather is tropical, hot and humid showing two seasons will defined. Using trap-nests that were bamboo, tied in one end with a diversity of length and diameters. These trap-nests were inspected frequently, from September 2003 to September 2005, to assure that the females were working and to collect data. With this it was observed that the females show an inspection behavior to choose the nest-traps before the prey capture which are from the Blattellidae family. The eggs are placed between the first pair of legs from the prey and the whole development, from egg to adult, it was bigger among the females than the males. An important characteristic observed in this study is that the females close the cell at the end of the day if they didn?t complete the provision, returning next day. This behavior can be understood as a way to protect the lava feed or the egg. The material used to close the nest is mud collected in the country, which is casted by the female. The closing wall can be coated with a unknown resin. The female can finish the provision from one cell in a day or take up to five days, at the nest conclusion it can take up to nine days, and this time is related to outside factors. It was observed six generations and a period of day pause to the studied specie. The sexual cause wasn?t significantly different from the 1:1 proportion and the females were produced on the first brood cell. The cells are placed on a lineal series and the length and diameter in the trap-nests were diversified. Each nest had from one to six brood cell and in 43,8% of the nests the female built a vestibular cell. It was found nests with intercalary cells and empty space. The nest closing walls were significantly thicker than the cell division, fusiforme, flexible, plain and more less shiny. It was found parasitoids from the Chrysididae and Eulophidae (Hymenoptera) and Tachinidae (Diptera) attacking P. denticulatum nests. The nesting activities from the females were only observed at the hot and rainy days.

Podium denticulatum é uma espécie de vespa solitária que pertence ao gênero Podium, família Sphecidae, sendo encontrada desde o México o Brasil. As fêmeas desse gênero são caçadoras, capturam e aprovisionam o ninho com baratas paralisadas. As espécies de Podium nidificam em cavidades preexistentes, como ninhos abandonados de outras espécies de vespas, cavidades em troncos e em ninhos-armadilha (NA). O principal objetivo do presente trabalho foi estudar os aspectos comportamentais das atividades realizadas pelas fêmeas de P.denticulatum no processo de nidificação, e a obtenção de dados do tempo de desenvolvimento, número de gerações por ano e novas informações sobre a biologia e fenologia da espécie, permitindo uma análise comparativa com aquelas reportadas por outros autores. O estudo foi realizado no Campus da USP de Ribeirão Preto, SP, onde o clima é tropical quente e úmido. Foram utilizados NA que consistiram de gomos de bambus, fechados em uma das extremidades pelo nó, com comprimentos e diâmetros variados. Esses NA foram inspecionados, frequentemente, de setembro de 2003 a setembro de 2005, para constatação de fêmeas trabalhando e coleta de dados. Com isso, pôde-se constatar que as fêmeas exibem comportamento de inspeção e escolha dos NA antes de começar a captura de presas, as quais são representantes da família Blattellidae. Os ovos são colocados entre o primeiro par de pernas da presa e o desenvolvimento total, ou seja, do ovo até o adulto, foi maior nas fêmeas que nos machos. Uma característica importante observada neste estudo é que as fêmeas fecham a célula ao final do dia caso não tenham completado o aprovisionamento, retornado no dia seguinte. Esse comportamento pode ser interpretado como uma forma de proteção ao alimento larval ou ovo. O material utilizado para fechar as células e o ninho consiste de barro coletado no campo. A parede de fechamento pode ser revestida com uma resina de origem desconhecida. A fêmea pode terminar o aprovisionamento de uma célula em até cinco dias; na conclusão do ninho, ela pode demorar até nove dias, e esse tempo está relacionado à fatores externos. Foram observadas 6 gerações e um período de diapausa e a razão sexual não diferiu significantemente da proporção de 1:1. As fêmeas foram produzidas preferencialmente nas primeiras células de cria, que são dispostas em série linear. Cada ninho continha de 1 a 6 células de cria e, em 43,8% dos ninhos a fêmea construiu uma célula vestibular. Foram encontradas ainda ninhos com célula intercalar e célula vazia de fundo. As paredes de fechamento do ninho foram significantemente mais espessas do que as partições celulares. Os casulos eram de coloração castanho-médio, fusiformes, flexíveis, lisos e mais ou menos brilhantes. Foram encontrados parasitóides da família Chrysididae e Eulophidae (Hymenoptera) e Tachinidae (Díptera) atacando ninhos de P. denticulatum. As atividades de nidificação das fêmeas só foram observadas no período quente e chuvoso. / Podium denticulatum it is a solitary wasp specie which belongs to the Podium class, Sphecidae, found from Mexico to Brazil. The females from this class are hunters, they catch and provide the nest with paralyzed cockroaches that are feed for their lavas. Podium species nesting in preexisting cavities, such as abandoned nests from other species, stem cavities and in nest traps. The major objective in this work it was to study the behavior aspects in detail from the P. denticulatum females, during the nesting process, besides the developing time, generation numbers by year and new information from the biology and phenology from the specie, allowing a comparative analysis from other authors. The study was done at the University of Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto Campus, where the weather is tropical, hot and humid showing two seasons will defined. Using trap-nests that were bamboo, tied in one end with a diversity of length and diameters. These trap-nests were inspected frequently, from September 2003 to September 2005, to assure that the females were working and to collect data. With this it was observed that the females show an inspection behavior to choose the nest-traps before the prey capture which are from the Blattellidae family. The eggs are placed between the first pair of legs from the prey and the whole development, from egg to adult, it was bigger among the females than the males. An important characteristic observed in this study is that the females close the cell at the end of the day if they didn?t complete the provision, returning next day. This behavior can be understood as a way to protect the lava feed or the egg. The material used to close the nest is mud collected in the country, which is casted by the female. The closing wall can be coated with a unknown resin. The female can finish the provision from one cell in a day or take up to five days, at the nest conclusion it can take up to nine days, and this time is related to outside factors. It was observed six generations and a period of day pause to the studied specie. The sexual cause wasn?t significantly different from the 1:1 proportion and the females were produced on the first brood cell. The cells are placed on a lineal series and the length and diameter in the trap-nests were diversified. Each nest had from one to six brood cell and in 43,8% of the nests the female built a vestibular cell. It was found nests with intercalary cells and empty space. The nest closing walls were significantly thicker than the cell division, fusiforme, flexible, plain and more less shiny. It was found parasitoids from the Chrysididae and Eulophidae (Hymenoptera) and Tachinidae (Diptera) attacking P. denticulatum nests. The nesting activities from the females were only observed at the hot and rainy days.

Die in der vorliegenden Arbeit verwendeten wissenschaftlichen Namen und die vorgenommenen nomenklatorischen Handlungen sollen nicht für nomenklatorische Zwecke im Rahmen des International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) berücksichtigt werden. Die Namen der neu beschriebenen Taxa wurden daher in Einvernehmen mit der Prüfungskommission in Anführungszeichen gesetzt. Um die Namen und nomenklatorischen Handlungen nach den Bestimmungen des ICZN verfügbar zu machen, erfolgt eine separate Publikation der Dissertation in abgeänderter Ausführung im European Journal of Taxonomy. The scientific names and nomenclatural acts in this paper are not to be considered for nomenclatural purposes as defined by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). All newly established names are therefore written in quotation marks. In order to make these names officially available, a separate publication based on this dissertation is being published in the European Journal of Taxonomy. / Die vorliegende Arbeit stellt eine umfassende Revision der Grabwespengattung Sphex (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) für die afroropische Faunenregion sowie Madagaskar und die umliegenden Inseln dar. Die Ergebnisse basieren auf dem Studium von knapp 4000 aus dem Untersuchungsgebiet stammenden, genadelten Exemplaren von Sphex aus 16 international bedeutsamen Museumssammlungen. Insgesamt werden 46 Taxa behandelt, bei 16 von ihnen handelt es sich um Erstbeschreibungen. Für ihre systematische Einordnung wurden sieben neue Artengruppen postuliert, von denen einige höchstwahrscheinlich auch in weiteren biogeografischen Regionen vertreten sind. Es wurde ein dichotomer Bestimmungsschlüssel für alle nachgewiesenen Arten und Unterarten der Afrotropis angefertigt, außerdem erfolgt für jedes Taxon eine detaillierte Darstellung der wichtigsten morphologischen Merkmale sowie eine geografische Repräsentation der Verbreitung. In Kombination mit den morphologischen Daten konnte unter Zuhilfenahme von Methoden zur Extraktion und Sequenzierung von DNA außerdem zum ersten Mal eine Phylogenie innerhalb der Gattung Sphex erstellt werden. / A revision of the genus Sphex (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) for the Afrotropical realm, Madagascar and the surrounding islands is presented. Results are based on the study of approximately 4000 pinned individuals from 16 international museum collections. Forty-six taxa are treated, 16 of which are described for the first time. Seven new species groups are proposed, dichotomous identification keys which include all known Sphex species and subspecies from Sub-Saharan Africa are created, detailed redescriptions and images of morphological characters are provided and geographical distributions of all taxa are depicted in maps. Using a combination of morphological data and genetic sequences obtained from some of the specimens, the first hypothesis for an intrageneric phylogeny of Sphex is proposed.

No description available.

Mimesa is a Holarctic genus of predatory sphecoid wasps of which 36 species are found in America. The present study is a revision of the American fauna presenting keys to species, standardized descriptions, distribution maps and biological information for each species. / Fourteen species are here described as new: M. cahuilla, M. cheyenne, M. chiricahua, M. gabrieleno, M. ipai, M. jicarilla, M. klamath, M. miwoka, M. nisenan, M. senijextee, M. serrano, M. tequila, M. tolteca and M. zapoteca. In addition one subspecies, M. gregaria simplex, has been raised to species rank and 7 previously recognized species have been synonymized as follows: M. polita with M. dawsoni, M. atriventris with M. cressonii, M. iroquois with M. ezra, M. impressifrons with M. edentata and M. basirufa, M. nebrascensis and M. mallochi with M. lutaria. A lectotype has been designated for M. mexicana. / A total of 365 illustrations are presented to supplement keys and descriptions.

No description available.

No description available.

O objetivo desse estudo foi examinar a composição de espécies e a abundância de vespas solitárias que nidificam em cavidades preexistentes no Parque Estadual da Ilha Anchieta, Ubatuba, SP, Brasil. As amostragens foram feitas durante dois anos, de setembro de 2007 a agosto de 2009, utilizando como ninhos-armadilha gomos de bambu e tubos feitos com cartolina preta. Os ninhos-armadilha foram inspecionados uma vez por mês e aqueles contendo ninhos completos foram coletados e levados para o laboratório. Para cada ninho-armadilha retirado, outro similar foi disponibilizado. No laboratório, os ninhos foram mantidos à temperatura ambiente e foram observados diariamente para a coleta dos indivíduos conforme eles emergiam. Foram obtidos um total de 142 ninhos com 457 células de cria construídos por fêmeas de 14 espécies: nove espécies foram da família Crabronidae, duas espécies da família Vespidae, subfamília Eumeninae, duas espécies da família Pompilidae e uma espécie da família Sphecidae. Além desses ninhos, de outros 112 contendo 311 células todos os imaturos estavam mortos ou apenas emergiram inimigos naturais. Nesses casos, apenas o gênero ou subfamília puderam ser identificados. Crabronidae foi a família mais abundante em número de células de cria construídas (67,6%), seguida por Vespidae (Eumeninae), Sphecidae e Pompilidae. As espécies mais abundantes foram: Trypoxylon lactitarse, Pachodynerus nasidens, Trypoxylon sp 2 aff nitidum e Podium denticulatum e Trypoxylon albitarse, Trypoxylon (Trypargilum) sp2, Trypoxylon punctivertex e Auplopus pratens foram as espécies mais pobremente representadas. Os inimigos naturais associados com os ninhos incluíram: Hymenoptera (Chrysididae, Ichneumonidae e Chalcididae) e Diptera (Sarcophagidae). O inimigo mais abundante foi o parasitóide Amobia floridensis (Diptera) responsável por 58.3% de todas as células de cria atacadas e foi encontrado em ninhos de Trypoxylon, Pachodynerus e Podium enquanto crisidídeos atacaram somente ninhos de Trypoxylon. As maiores freqüências de nidificação ocorreram durante o período mais quente e mais chuvoso do ano e uma correlação significativa foi encontrada entre os números mensais de ocupações dos ninhos-armadilha e os valores de temperatura. A razão sexual para Pachodynerus brevithorax e P. denticulatum não foi significantemente diferente de 1:1, mas para Trypoxylon lactitarse e Trypoxylon sp2 aff nitidum ela foi fortemente desviada para machos enquanto para Trypoxylon sp5 aff nitidum e P. nasidens ela foi fortemente desviada para fêmeas. / The aim of this study was to examine the species composition and the abundance of solitary wasps that nest in preexisting cavities at Parque Estadual da Ilha Anchieta (Anchieta Island State Park), Ubatuba, SP, Brazil. Sampling was made during two years, from September 2007 to August 2009, utilizing bamboo canes and tubes made of black cardboard as trap-nests. The traps were inspected once a month and those containing completed nests were collected, replaced with empty ones and taken to the laboratory. In the laboratory, the nests were kept at room temperature and observed daily until the adults emerged. A total of 142 nests with 457 individual brood cells of 14 species were obtained: nine species of digger wasps (Crabronidae), two species of mason wasps (Eumeninae, Vespidae), two species of spider wasps (Pompilidae), and one species of the roach-hunting wasps (Sphecidae). The most abundant family were digger wasps with 67.6% of all brood cells, followed by mason wasps (23.6%), roach-hunting wasps (5.9%) and spider wasps (2.9%). The most abundant species were: Trypoxylon lactitarse, Pachodynerus nasidens, Trypoxylon sp 2 aff nitidum, Podium denticulatum and Trypoxylon albitarse, Trypoxylon (Trypargilum) sp2, Trypoxylon punctivertex and Auplopus pratens were the rare species. The natural enemies associated with the nests included Hymenoptera (Chrysididae, Ichneumonidae and Chalcididae) and Diptera (Sarcophagidae). The most abundant enemy was the parasitoid Amobia floridensis (Diptera) accounting for 58.3% of all attacked brood cells and it was found in nests of Trypoxylon, Pachodynerus and Podium, whereas the chrysidids were found only in nests of Trypoxylon. The highest nesting frequencies occurred during the hottest and wettest period of the year and a significant correlation was found between the number of occupied trap-nests per month and the values of temperature. The sex ratio for Pachodynerus brevithorax and P. denticulatum was not significantly different from 1:1. On the other hand, for Trypoxylon lactitarse and Trypoxylon sp2 aff nitidum the sex ratio was strongly male-biased whereas for Trypoxylon sp5 aff nitidum and P. nasidens the sex ratio was strongly female-biased.