Studies on Nesting and Hunting Behavior of Pison punctifrons Shuckard, 1838 and Sceliphron madraspatanum (Fabricius, 1781) (Apoidea: Hymenoptera: Insecta) in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India

Author: Shivani Sharma* and Gaurav Sharma

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Abstract

The studies on nesting and hunting behavior of Pison punctifrons Shuckard, 1838 and Sceliphron madraspatanum (Fabricius, 1781) has been conducted in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India during 2019-21. Both species of wasps constructed their nests in pre and early monsoon period in the safest places away from rain and sunlight. Wasps carry moist soil with their mandibles, jaws and forelegs to the nest site and fix it to the solid surfaces. Pison punctifrons pushes the soil inside the cell by their legs and use their abdomen to give shape to the nest. The female spent maximum time inside the nest during whole process of nest building, occasionally comes out to do inspections and constructed three to five cells within one nest. In the Sceliphron madraspatanum wasps the female had constructed one cell and filled it up with spiders and sealed it after egg-laying. The observations recorded that both wasps are parasitoid by nature they raised their young ones on the diet of paralysed spiderlings and

Keywords

Nesting behavior, Pison punctifrons, Sceliphron madraspatanum.