scholarly journals Social wasp (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) beer trapping in Finland 2008-2012: a German surprise

2013 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 156-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jouni Sorvari

Beer trapping has been carried out annually in the summer in south western Finland (Turku) from 2008 to 2012 inclusive. In 2012, an additional trapping programme was conducted in southern (Helsinki), central (Kuopio) and northern (Kevo) Finland, which also included another trapping location in the south western (Turku) region. The traps were always presented for seven days in each location. While the median wasp Dolichovespula media (Retzius, 1783) was present in all locations, the common wasp Vespula vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 was found in five out of six locations (20 traps per site). The Kevo individual represents the northernmost record for the median wasp species. The German wasp Vespula germanica (Fabricius, 1793) was surprisingly common in south western and southern Finland. Vespula germanica has a short history of occurrence in Finland and seems to have shifted its range northwards, possibly due to climate change. Some common species of the genus Dolichovespula Rohwer, 1916 were likely underrepresented, because they are not very attracted by beer.

2020 ◽  
Vol 246 ◽  
pp. 00002
Author(s):  
Dirk Notz

The flux of energy through the climate system determines the living conditions of our planet. In this contribution, I outline the main processes regulating this flux of energy, how these processes have changed throughout Earth history, and how today they are changing by human activities, in particular by activities related to energy production. The changes in the climate state of our planet, which have been ongoing ever since the formation of the Earth some 5 billion years ago, have shaped the world we live in today. Yet, today’s climate change is special in two overarching ways. First, it is the first time that a major climate change is globally affecting a civilisation that is perfectly adapted to thousands of years of stable climate conditions. Second, today’s climate change is occurring at a rate much faster than preceding natural climate changes. In combination, these two factors make today’s climate change a unique challenge to humankind, with direct consequences of future energy production as outlined in the other contributions to this volume.


Commond Cold ◽  
2009 ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Atzl ◽  
Roland Helms

Author(s):  
Adrian Martin

Oceanic plant life is dominated by the microscopic phytoplankton. Regardless of the scale at which they are observed, they display striking heterogeneity in their distribution. At their most dramatic they paint colourful swathes across whole seas. A short history of observations of phytoplankton ‘patchiness’ is presented, illustrated with some of the many ideas put forward to explain it. Focus is then turned to the mesoscale, covering scales of roughly 1–500 km. It is argued that the spatial variability seen in phytoplankton at these scales gives important information on the biogeochemistry of the ocean. In particular, interplay between the physical circulation and biological processes results in constantly shifting patterns that are strongly related to changes induced in phytoplankton production. It is thought that this physical influence may play a major role in controlling the rate at which new plant material (primary production) is generated in much of the world's oceans. Major questions yet to be addressed are also discussed including the difficulty of quantifying processes on the very limit of what we can model or observe and how these processes may change in response to and exert a feedback on future climate change.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 210472
Author(s):  
Jyrki Torniainen ◽  
Atte Komonen

The social vespid wasps are common insect predators and several species behave in unison in the same biotopes. It is commonly accepted that social wasps are mainly opportunistic generalist predators without differences in prey selection and hence they compete for the same food resources. Trophic positions of six vespid wasp species and their potential prey from four sites in Finland and one in the UK were evaluated using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes (δ 13 C and δ 15 N). The difference in isotope values indicated different trophic positions among species. In general, Dolichovespula spp. showed higher δ 15 N values than Vespula spp., which suggests that Dolichovespula forage on higher trophic levels. Dolichovespula media (Retzius, 1783) showed the highest δ 15 N values, whereas Vespula vulgaris showed the lowest. Dolichovespula media partly expresses apex predator-like δ 15 N values, whereas Vespula species tend to forage on primary consumers. The largest species Vespa crabro (Linnaeus, 1758) showed also similar δ 15 N values as Vespula spp. However, δ 13 C and δ 15 N values of V. vulgaris workers varied slightly during the season. This study offers novel insights about the trophic segregation in the social wasp community, suggesting specialization in diet resource utilization, especially between Dolichovespula and Vespula .


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Carisio ◽  
Jacopo Cerri ◽  
Simone Lioy ◽  
Ettore Bianchi ◽  
Sandro Bertolino ◽  
...  

Alien species invasion could lead to the replacement of native species with similar ecological requirements. Vespa velutina is an invasive hornet recently established in Europe, that is raising concern due to the associated economic and ecological impacts toward managed and wild pollinators besides to the potential competition and replacement of native wasp species. This led to the inclusion of V. velutina in the European list of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern. Nevertheless, V. velutina impacts on the native wasp community is poorly understood. We analysed the influence of V. velutina abundance on the European hornet Vespa crabro in a four-year invaded area in Italy. Moreover, we assessed the impacts of its presence on V. crabro, Vespula vulgaris and Vespula germanica, by comparing the invaded area with an uninvaded one. A Bayesian Generalized Linear Model, implemented to control some relevant environmental confounders, indicate that the relationship between Vespa species was positive at low abundances, while for high values of V. velutina the two species did not covary anymore. The distribution of V. crabro, V. vulgaris and V. germanica showed a considerable overlap between the invaded and uninvaded areas. Overall, the results bring to the conclusion that native Vespidae have probably avoided or minimised a competition pressure, and therefore the presence of V. velutina has not led to an evident replacement of V. crabro and Vespula species. This provides reassurance regarding the conservation status of native European Vespidae following V. velutina invasion.


Insects ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 268
Author(s):  
Cintia Akemi Oi ◽  
Robert L. Brown ◽  
Ian Stevens ◽  
Tom Wenseleers

Sphecophaga vesparum often parasitizes nests of vespid wasps such as Vespula vulgaris and Vespula germanica. Inside the colonies, the ectoparasitic larvae feed on the immature forms of the wasps. There are two adult forms of S. vesparum. The large, winged adults emerge from either rigid yellow cocoons or the orange cocoons used for overwintering. The small, brachypterous females emerge from soft, white cocoons. The species is facultative deuterotokous, producing mostly parthenogenic females and infrequently producing males. Here, we describe the production of chemical compounds related to the different developmental forms of the parasitoid S. vesparum (larvae, pupae and adults). We also compare the chemical profiles of the parasitoid wasp adults to those of their two main host species, Vespula vulgaris and Vespula germanica. The results show differences in hydrocarbon composition of larvae, pupae and adults of S. vesparum. Our results also suggest a partial mimicry of each of the two host species, mostly relating to linear alkanes present in both parasitoids and the host vespid wasp species. This matching is likely due to the recycling of the prey’s hydrocarbons, as has been found in other species of parasitoids.


Author(s):  
Stewart D. Frusher ◽  
Alistair J. Hobday ◽  
Sarah M. Jennings ◽  
Colin Creighton ◽  
Dallas D’Silva ◽  
...  

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