The foraging behaviour of neotropical social wasps

Abstract

The evolution of eusociality among the Hymenoptera is related to the development of colonies with big populations, which in turn presented these social insects with the need for a constant intake of nutrients necessary for their collective survival. Taking a closer look on how the social wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) manage to provide their colony with resources is of great value to understand the evolution of social life, but also the impact insect societies have on the environments they live in. Here, we attempt to explore the foraging behaviour of vespids, summarizing its general aspects and defining historically established key concepts. We build on previous reviews while bringing updated references and focusing on the literature on Neotropical social wasps (Polistinae). In this chapter, we define and investigate a series of topics, including the foraging activity of colonies, the flight range of foragers, the intricacies of the trophallaxis behaviour, the search and obtainment of different types of resources, and their storage inside nests. Finally, we attempt to diagnose the issues and challenges faced by Neotropical wasp researchers and suggest a few ways investigations may take for the advancement of the field when studying the foraging behaviour.