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Philopatry, nest choice, and aggregation temporal–spatial change in the digger wasp Cerceris arenaria (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae)

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Abstract

Studying temporal and spatial changes of aggregations of digger wasps through nesting seasons is interesting because of its link to social evolution via a semi-social pathway, but information about this topic is scarce. An aggregation of Cerceris arenaria Latreille was studied during 1997–1999 and for a short period in 2001. The colony grew in area and number of nests through the first three seasons, but the aggregation reduced in 2001, and this decrease was confirmed by a count of nests made in 2003 and 2005. The positions of the nest entrances remained almost constant over the years, at least in high-nest-density areas, because of the repeated use of the same burrows from which they emerged. This fact permits the population to exploit for many years a restricted area and could act as a nest-density-regulation method for fossorial species that rarely dig new nests, preventing an excessive nest density. The newly emerged females did not dig new nests, showed a high philopatry in the choice of their first nest, and preferred to look for other nests to occupy close to the ones recently abandoned (mainly for an undergone usurpation by a conspecific female). Philopatry, along with lack of new nest digging and position-dependent nest choice, is probably an important factor maintaining spatial stability of the aggregation through the years and could represent a first step in the evolution of a higher sociality in apoid burrowing Hymenoptera.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to Guido Pacchetti (University of Milan) for the help he gave in statistical analysis, Francesco Isola, Stefania Bevacqua, and Cristina Papadia for their help in collecting data, and Antonio Bianchi for the logistic support and the kind hospitality on his farm during the field work. Thanks are due to R. Henry and L. Disney (University of Cambridge) for reading and correction of the text. Part of the work was supported by a 3-year grant FIRB (Fondo per gli Investimenti della Ricerca di Base) RBAU019H94-001 (2001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Biologia, Sezione di Zoologia e Citologia, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria, 26, 20133, Milano, Italy

    Carlo Polidori, Bettina Valarani & Francesco Andrietti

  2. Dipartimento di Biotecnologie e Bioscienze, Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza, 2, 20126, Milan, Italy

    Maurizio Casiraghi

  3. Dipartimento di Biologia, Aula di Calcolo, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria, 26, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Marco Di Lorenzo

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  1. Carlo Polidori
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  2. Maurizio Casiraghi
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Correspondence to Carlo Polidori.

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Polidori, C., Casiraghi, M., Lorenzo, M.D. et al. Philopatry, nest choice, and aggregation temporal–spatial change in the digger wasp Cerceris arenaria (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae). J Ethol 24, 155–163 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-005-0176-0

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