Nesting Characteristics And Spiders (arachnida: Araneae) Captured By Auplopus Argutus (hymenoptera: Pompilidae) In An Area Of Atlantic Forest In Southeastern Brazil

All pompilids use spiders to provide food for their larvae, and these hunting wasps can be responsible for a significant impact on the populations of their prey. Data on spider species captured, characteristics of the nests, fecundity and seasonal variation in reproductive frequency, however, are not available for most pompilid species. Here we describe the nesting behavior of Auplopus argutus based on 108 nests from an area of Atlantic Forest in southeastern Brazil. The wasps deposited each spider in a clay vessel, constructed within the bamboo cylinders used as traps. In each trap we found from 1 to 19 vessels, totalizing 508 provisioned cells. From these, 84 contained spiders in good conditions of conservation, allowing identification. The females of A. argutus provisioned their nests with 21 spider species, belonging to eight families: Anyphaenidae, Corinnidae, Ctenidae, Miturgidae, Salticidae, Senoculidae, Sparassidae and Zoridae. Almost all the spiders collected in the nests had their legs amputated and were equivalent or greater in size than the mean body size of the wasps.1173281287Cambra, R.A.T., Quintero, D.A., Miranda, R., Presas, comportamiento de anidación y nuevos registros de distribución en pompílidos neotropicales (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) (2004) Tecnociencia, 6, pp. 95-109Dreisbach, R.R., New species of spider wasps, genus Auplopus, from the Americas South of the United States. (Hymenoptera: Psammocharidae) (1963) Proceedings of the United States National Museum, 114, pp. 137-211Fernández, F., Avispas cazadoras de arañas (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) de la región Neotropical Biota Colombiana, 1, pp. 3-24Kimsey, L.S., Notes on the biology of some Panamanian Pompilidae with a description of communal nest (Hymenoptera) (1980) Pan-Pacific Entomologist, 56, pp. 98-100Klein, A.M., Steffan-Dewenter, I., Tscharntke, T., Foraging trip duration and density of megachilid bees, eumenid wasps and pompilid wasps in tropical agroforestry systems (2004) Journal of Animal Ecology, 73, pp. 517-525Kursczewski, F.E., Observations on the nesting behavior of Auplopus caerulescens subcorticalis and other Auplopodini (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) (1989) Great Lakes Entomologist, 22, pp. 71-74Kursczewski, F.E., Kursczewski, E.J., Host records for some North American Pompilidae (Hymenoptera) with a discussion of factors in prey selection (1968) Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, 41, pp. 1-33Martins, R.P., (1991) Biologia e Comportamento de Comunidades de Vespas Escavadoras (Hymenoptera: Aculeata), , Ph.D. Thesis. Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil. 116 ppO'Neill, K.M., (2001) Solitary Wasps: Behavior and Natural History, , Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, U.S.A. 406 ppRayor, L.S., Attack strategies of predatory wasps (Hymenoptera: PompilidaeSphecidae) on colonial orb web-building spiders (Araneidae: Metepeira incrassata) (1996) Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, 69 (SUPPL.), pp. 67-75Rehnberg, B.G., Selection of spider prey by Trypoxylon politum (Say) (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) (1987) Canadian Entomologist, 119, pp. 189-194Wasbauer, M.S., Pompilidae (1995) The Hymenoptera of Costa Rica, pp. 522-539. , P.E. Hanson and I.D. Gauld (Editors). Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom. 920 ppWcislo, W.T., West-Eberhard, M.J., Eberhard, W.G., Natural history and behavior of a primitively social wasp, Auplopus semialatus, and its parasite, Irenangelus eberhardi (Hymenopter: Pompilidae) (1988) Journal of Insect Behavior, 1, pp. 247-260Zanette, L.R.S., Soares, L.A., Pimenta, H.C., Gonçalves, A.M., Martins, R.P., Nesting biology and sex ratios of Auplopus militaris (Lynch-Arribalzaga 1873) (Hymenoptera Pompilidae) (2004) Tropical Zoology, 17, pp. 145-15