Spring Behaviour of Ropalidia plebeiana (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) within a Huge Aggregation of Nests

Abstract

Spring behaviour of Ropalidia plebeiana females within a huge nest aggregation was observed under a bridge in Cabbage Tree Creek, New South Wales, Australia. Although a great many combs existed in a dense aggregation, each comb was defended by a group of particular females, and intercomb drift of females was not frequent, suggesting that the social system of R. plebeiana in huge nest aggregation was not a ‘supercolony’ reported in some ants, but a permanent aggregation of independent nests. Females oviposited in old cells; viz. combs were used more than one year. More than ninety percent of females were inseminated and seventy percent had developed eggs in ovaries. © 1987, JAPANESE SOCIETY OF APPLIED ENTOMOLOGY AND ZOOLOGY. All rights reserved.