Regular articles
Special Issues



Caribbean Naturalist
    CANA Home
    Range and Scope
    Board of Editors
    Staff
    Editorial Workflow
    Publication Charges
    Subscriptions

Other EH Journals
    Northeastern Naturalist
    Southeastern Naturalist
    Neotropical Naturalist
    Urban Naturalist
    Prairie Naturalist
    Journal of North American Bat
       Research
    Eastern Paleontologist
    Journal of the North Atlantic
    eBio

Eagle Hill Institute Home

Notes on the Natural History and Climatic Specializations of an Endemic Caribbean Paper Wasp (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Mischocyttarus phthisicus)

Alycia Johnson1, Clayton H. Ziemke1, Donald A. Yee1, and Kaitlin M. Baudier1,*

1Department of Marine Science, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC 29526, USA. 2Burroughs and Chapin Center for Marine and Wetland Studies, Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC 29526, USA. 3Oak Island, NC 28461, USA. 4Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences, Solomons, MD 20688, USA. 5Quality Marine, Los Angeles, CA 90045, USA. *Corresponding author.

Caribbean Naturalist, No. 96 (2024)

Abstract
Mischocyttarus phthisicus is a locally abundant social wasp in Puerto Rico with little known of its natural history. Using our own on-site observations and citizen-science reports from iNaturalist, we compiled data on and described this species’ occurrence, nesting biology, and colony size. To understand the degree of its climatic specialization, we also compared thermal tolerance across elevations. Nests were most often found on the undersides of broad leaves and were comparable in size to nests of congeners, though likely slightly larger. Heat tolerance, but not cold tolerance, changed with elevation, a result which does not follow Brett’s rule.

pdf iconDownload Full-text pdf (Accessible only to subscribers. To subscribe click here.)

 

 

Site by Bennett Web & Design Co.