Introducing the new colony (Polistes dominula, pleometrosis)
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- čas přidán 7. 09. 2024
- Wasp season 2021 opens with a really nice pleometrotic (more than one foundress) colony. Both females were caught in February in a field in Southern Italy, where nesting starts very early compared to most other temperate locations of the Northern Hemisphere.
Hilda and Zelda were just two among many other paper wasps I saw the day I caught them, so the chances that they're related are quite low. Unrelated females rarely engage in pleometrosis, most of the time it's a phenomenon that occurs among sisters. This would be the first time that I manage to obtain a pleometrosis between two unrelated females, however I can't be 100% certain they they are in fact unrelated, because afterall I did catch them in the same field.
Wonderful scenery 👌
👍
A very nice colony by the way!
Love them already
That's fantastic, phenomenal job raising these wasps. I've planned on keeping and raising wasps myself. It's something I've never done before and thought it'd be cool to give it a try! I have the
lee's kritter keeper xl container, water, honey, and mealworms ready to go as food. Any quick advice for starting out such as about feeding the wasp, location of where I should keep the container with it so it can be active as if it would outside. That would mean a lot, thank you so much!!
Sorry for the delay in the reply! For some reason I didn't get the notification. If you check my page on Facebook (same name as the channel) the pinned post is precisely about paper wasp keeping. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask, either here or on Facebook!
@@waspjournals41 That'd be perfect! I sent you message on messenger but for some reason my account suddenly became disabled and I literally just created it :(( hopefully this problem stops. My nest is doing good, there's now 9 pupae and may hatch starting sometime this week, I'll definitely keep you updated on how they're doing!
@@elisimmons5350 I saw your messages and sadly I can't reply, but the nest seems to be doing great and yes, that is P.dominula. if you do make another account please send a message to my main account (Jesse Mendelsohn) where I'll gladly respond as soon as I can! From there I can give you my number and we can chat on WhatsApp if you like
cool
Nice colony! I put three foundresses in a big fancy cage last year in a room that was on the chilly side of room temperature. They hardly did anything until the sun hit the cage. Clearly they needed more warmth to found a colony. I was wondering how much the number of foundresses in the cage matters and what number you would recommend. I don't have any rooms in my house that get much sunlight but I was thinking of putting them in a room a few degrees above room temperature to make them more active. Would this be bad for them? Thanks
They need warmth AND direct sunlight, as UV rays are needed to stimulate them. Keeping the heat up without providing enough light won't change the situation much. You can also use a white full-spectrum lightbulb if you don't have access to natural sunlight, though I personally find that they work best with natural light. I keep them in a greenhouse-like structure with three glass walls, there's plenty of sunlight hitting the structure all day long, and during the day it's nearly always a few degrees above room temperature and external temperature as well (today for example it's 15°C outside and 22°C in the greenhouse). In warmer days I screen off part of the cage with newspaper to avoid overheating, so you need to be careful and find a balance between warmth and excessive heat. You will find that when it's too hot they'll start fanning their wings and blowing water bubbles and will seek cooler corners of the enclosure. That's how you know it's time to screen off.
As for the appropriate number of foundresses, I usually cage at least two of the same species. I never had much luck with caging just one female, but when there's two or three of them the rate of successful nesting rises to nearly 100% (at least in P.dominula). Of course multiple females in the same cage doesn't necessarily mean they will cooperate. Most of the times only one of them nests, and I end up releasing the others so they don't bother the nester. This year's colony has been an exception, as both females are cooperating on the same nest despite being most likely unrelated.
Where is this Polistes species usually found?
Polistes dominula is native to the countries around the Mediterranean Basin as well as central Europe and western Asia, but it has been accidentally introduced to many parts of the world, such as North America, Australia, New Zealand, Chile and South Africa, where it tends to establish itself and an invasive species.
It nests in close proximity to human settlements, frequently establishing colonies on or inside buildings and man-made structures. In its native habitat it also colonizes shrubs.
How many wasps do you recommend that I start with? I put 4 in the same enclosure and they didn't start building a nest until two weeks later.
At least two, even if only one of them might nest the presence of other foundresses stimulates them to build
@@waspjournals41 Thanks. By the way, do you have any experience in keeping yellow jackets? I captured a few queens but don't have any luck in getting them to nest.
@@Sam-kb1lt as far as I know, Yellowjackets are nowhere near as easy to raise as paper wasps. People have succeeded in labs, obtaining mediocre results after multiple failed attempts. I don't have experience in raising them, and to be honest I don't think it's really worth my time, but if I ever have enough space and resources (and feel like it) I might give it a shot. Of course I'm talking about raising them from scratch, so this does not apply to transplanting pre-established colonies into a nest box, which seems to be more successful a technique.
@@waspjournals41 One of my yellow jacket queens just started nesting. Loads of people keep hornets in Asia, where wasp and hornet larvae are considered a delicacy. Keeping yellow jacket is definitely more difficult compared to paper wasp, but it's also more rewarding since they make bigger colonies and produce more workers. I guess it'll be fun to see some yellow jacket and hornet content on the channel :)
How do you make a wasp make a nest in captivity
With paper wasps (Polistes) it's pretty easy, you just have to catch one or two queens in the spring and put them in a cage in a well-lit location with food (preys and honey), water and cardboard for nest construction.
@@waspjournals41 I don’t know what I keep doing wrong they never get food or try and build a nest always fails for me