Parachartergus fraternus

Parachartergus fraternus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Hymenoptera
Family:
Vespidae
Subfamily:
Polistinae
Tribe:
Epiponini
Genus:
Parachartergus
Species:
P. fraternus
Binomial name
Parachartergus fraternus
(Gribodo, 1892)

Parachartergus fraternus[1] is a neotropical, swarm founding, polistine wasp species that is distributed throughout Central and South America.[2] They live in nests in second growth tropical dry forests, near pasture fields, roadside areas, and urban areas as well.[3] These wasps eat insects, such as caterpillars of Lepidoptera. They also drink nectar, honeydew, and water.[4] The workers capture their prey during foraging. They also use venom to paralyze their prey in order to consume it later.[3] P. fraternus wasps are not very aggressive and they do not attack when the nest is approached.[5]

  1. ^ "Parachartergus fraternus" at the Encyclopedia of Life
  2. ^ Leonardo, Paula C., Flavio R. Andrade, and Fabio Prezoto. "Foraging Behavior in the Neotropical Swarm-founding Wasp Parachartergus Fraternus (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Polistinae: Epiponini) during Different Phases of the Biological Cycle." Sociobiology 42 (2003): 735–43. Web. 11 Oct. 2014.
  3. ^ a b Olson, Eric J. "Parachartergus Fraternus (Gribodo)(Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Polistinae) Uses Venom When Taking Caterpillar Prey." Psyche: A Journal of Entomology 103.1–2 (2000): 85–93. Web. 11 Oct. 2014.
  4. ^ Mateus, Sidnei, Fernando Barbosa Noll, and Ronaldo Zucchi. "Caste Flexibility and Variation According to the Colony Cycle in the Swarm-founding Wasp, Parachartergus Fraternus (Gribodo) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Epiponini)." Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 77.4 (2004): 470–83. Web. 11 Oct. 2014.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).