Polistes biglumis
| Polistes biglumis | |
|---|---|
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| Female | |
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Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1)
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Vespidae |
| Genus: | Polistes |
| Species: | P. biglumis |
| Binomial name | |
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Polistes biglumis (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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| Synonyms | |
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| External identifiers for Polistes biglumis | |
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| NCBI | 34727 |
Polistes biglumis is a species of social wasp within Polistes, the most common genus of paper wasp. It is distinguished mainly by its tendency to reside in montane climates in meadows or alpine areas. Selection pressure from the wasp's environment has led to several idiosyncrasies of its behavior and life cycle with respect to its relative species in the genus Polistes. It alone among paper wasps is often polyandrous. In addition, it has a nesting season that gives rise to unique competitive dynamics among females of the species. P. biglumis wasps utilize an odor based recognition system that is the basis for all wasp to wasp interaction of the species. The wasp's life cycle is highly intertwined with that of Polistes atrimandibularis, an obligate social parasite wasp that frequently invades the combs of P. biglumis wasps.
The Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus described Polistes biglumis in 1758. Its species name biglumis is a Latin phrase meaning "two husks." While no common name for the wasp exists in English, it is referred to as "berg feldwespe" in German (meaning "mountain field wasp"). P. biglumis has been studied alongside Polistes snelleni and Polistes chinensis for comparison. P. biglumis was originally classified as a hornet in the genus Vespa but was reassigned to the genus Polistes, which is the largest genus of paper wasps in the family Vespidae.
This species resides mainly in mountainous zones in Southern Europe, and it is the only paper wasp that inhabits a mountainous clime. Due to its divergence from the more common temperate climes of its genus, it has developed several distinctions from other paper wasps that arise mainly from selective pressure due to the severe climate it commonly experiences. The climate shortens the nesting season of P. biglumis to around four months. In addition, the nests exhibit darker coloration, which allows them to absorb more heat from the sun. Workers are also often nonexistent in some populations of P. biglumis, which demonstrates a large dichotomy from other social wasps, whose most commonly seen specimens are the workers. Finally, because of the reduced nesting season as well as parasitism by other wasps, P. biglumis has developed nesting strategies that are both distinct from other paper wasps and variable among conspecific populations.
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Wikipedia