Ropalidia fasciata
| Ropalidia fasciata | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Vespidae |
| Subfamily: | Polistinae |
| Tribe: | Ropalidiini |
| Genus: | Ropalidia |
| Species: | R. fasciata |
| Binomial name | |
|
Ropalidia fasciata (Fabricius, 1804) |
|
| Synonyms | |
|
Icaria intermedia, Cameron, 1905 Icaria maculifrons, Cameron, 1903 Icaria picta, de Saussure, 1853 |
|
Icaria intermedia, Cameron, 1905 Icaria maculifrons, Cameron, 1903 Icaria picta, de Saussure, 1853
Ropalidia fasciata, a common paper wasp, is a wide-ranging species that is distributed from India to the Lesser Sunda Islands, Palawan, and Ryukyu Islands, occupying the northern edge of Ropalidia’s larger distribution. These primitively eusocial wasps are unique in that they do not exhibit the strict matrifilial, single-queen social structure found in many species of social insects. Instead, colonies are founded based on associations between several females, or ‘foundresses.'
Ropalidia fasciata belongs to one of the largest wasp taxa. Roughly 180 other species belong to the genus Ropalidia. In discussion, R. fasciata is often grouped with and compared to Ropalidia marginata.R. fasciata was classified by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1804.
R. fasciata appears with a red-brown body with yellow stripes, and some black and yellow markings. The species are variable in color pattern, displaying the black markings to various degrees. Queen-like and worker-like individuals are not morphologically distinguishable, but instead are differentiated based on behavior.
R. fasciata is distributed consistently throughout grasslands within its range, mainly inhabiting fields that are invaded by the sugarcane Miscanthus sinensis. The wasps prefer to build nests under the leaves of this plant.
Colonies are founded in the spring, most often by associations of multiple females. Females that hatched early the year before are referred to as 'foundresses,' as they can choose to go on to found a new colony. R. fasciata has an annual, relatively long colony cycle that begins in April and continues into November or December. The first group to emerge from the nest in the spring are females who quickly adopt forager or fighter roles in the colony. Potential foundresses and males emerge later in the summer. Males are commonly found in both established and newly founded nests, a quality specific to tropical eusocial wasps. Unlike many species of temperate wasps, females do not attack these individuals. Foundress survival rate from April until September can be as low as 1.4%, indicating that most foundresses die before the end of the season. However, nest densities are quite stable from year to year due to the species' flexible reproductive habits and persistence in nest maintenance and rebuilding. The qualities of R. fasciata's colony cycle are very similar to that of other primitively eusocial wasps.
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Wikipedia