Presence of Strepsiptera Parasites in the Independent-founding Wasp, Polistes satan

Abstract

Although the paper wasp genus, Polistes, has been examined extensively, little is known about the occurrence of parasitism in this group. We detected the obligate parasitic insect group, Strepsiptera in the gaster of Polistes satan Bequaert adult females. By dissecting 161 adult females from 24 colonies, we identified a total of four stylopized wasps in three colonies during the wet season.

Keywords

• Social wasp
• interactions
• parasitism