Hymenoptera, Crabronidae): a Useful Tool in the Biosurveillance of Buprestid Beetles
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University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Master's Theses and Capstones Student Scholarship Fall 2017 NEST PROVISIONING AND HOMING BEHAVIOR OF CERCERIS FUMIPENNIS (HYMENOPTERA, CRABRONIDAE): A USEFUL TOOL IN THE BIOSURVEILLANCE OF BUPRESTID BEETLES Eleanor Ann McCabe University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/thesis Recommended Citation McCabe, Eleanor Ann, "NEST PROVISIONING AND HOMING BEHAVIOR OF CERCERIS FUMIPENNIS (HYMENOPTERA, CRABRONIDAE): A USEFUL TOOL IN THE BIOSURVEILLANCE OF BUPRESTID BEETLES" (2017). Master's Theses and Capstones. 1132. https://scholars.unh.edu/thesis/1132 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses and Capstones by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NEST PROVISIONING AND HOMING BEHAVIOR OF CERCERIS FUMIPENNIS (HYMENOPTERA, CRABRONIDAE): A USEFUL TOOL IN THE BIOSURVEILLANCE OF BUPRESTID BEETLES BY ELEANOR A. MCCABE Baccalaureate Degree BA, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 2014 Thesis Submitted to the University of New Hampshire In Partial Fulfillment of The Requirement for the Degree of Master of Science In Biological Sciences: Integrative Organismal Biology September 2017 ii This thesis has been examined and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Biological Sciences, Integrative Organismal Biology by: Thesis Director, Donald S. Chandler, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Biological Sciences Carrie L. Hall, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences Sandra M. Rehan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences On 8/15/2017 Original approval signatures are on file with the University of New Hampshire Graduate School. iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank all those that have helped this thesis along the way; the undergraduate workers who spent long days in the field with me: Alex Tenore-Nortrup, Molly Womersley, Jonas Insinga, Peter Trefrey, Jack DiGeronimo, Jace Porter, and Kassandra Kelly; Commander Bob Blodgett and everyone else at the American Legion post 112 that allowed us to conduct our study in their parking lot; as well as Howie Lewis and everyone at the NH State Forest Nursery who allowed us to conduct our study in their fields in Boscawen, NH. I would also like to thank the professors that helped me with the statistics on this project, Ernst Linder, Ph.D and Chris Neefus, Ph.D; my committee members for giving helpful suggestions, Carrie Hall, Ph.D and Sandra Rehan, Ph. D; the University of New Hampshire Agriculture Experiment Station which partly funded this research through NHAES Mcintire-Stennis Project NH74-M. Finally, many thanks to my advisor Donald Chandler, Ph.D. who brought me into this project and helped guide the research and the writing process. iv Table of Contents Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………….viii Chapter 1: Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 1 Background ................................................................................................................................. 1 Nesting ........................................................................................................................................ 3 Hunting ........................................................................................................................................ 5 The Value of studying this species .............................................................................................. 6 Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) ................................................................................... 8 Objectives .................................................................................................................................................. 12 Chapter 2: Nesting Behaviors of Cerceris fumipennis ........................................................................ 13 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 13 Nest above ground activity .................................................................................................... 15 Maternal investment .............................................................................................................. 16 Comparison of monitored to undisturbed nests ..................................................................... 16 Determination of the constancy of prey beetle species ......................................................... 17 Methods ..................................................................................................................................... 18 Field site characterization ...................................................................................................... 18 Nest above ground activity .................................................................................................... 19 Summer-long monitoring of C. fumipennis hunting behavior ............................................... 20 Nest excavations .................................................................................................................... 21 Size determination of nests .................................................................................................... 22 Identification of insects from nest excavations ..................................................................... 23 Determination of maternal investment .................................................................................. 24 Comparison of monitored nests to undisturbed nests ............................................................ 25 Determination of constancy to prey beetle species ............................................................... 26 Results ....................................................................................................................................... 31 Nest building.......................................................................................................................... 31 Maternal investment .............................................................................................................. 33 Maternal investment: production of young ........................................................................... 33 Maternal investment: prey beetles ......................................................................................... 35 Maternal investment: prey beetle biomass ............................................................................ 36 Comparison of monitored nests to undisturbed nests ............................................................ 40 v Constancy of prey species ..................................................................................................... 42 Discussion ................................................................................................................................. 48 Nest building.......................................................................................................................... 48 Maternal investment .............................................................................................................. 49 Maternal investment: production of young ........................................................................... 49 Maternal investment: prey beetles ......................................................................................... 51 Maternal investment: prey beetle biomass ............................................................................ 52 Comparison of monitored to undisturbed nests ..................................................................... 53 Constancy of prey species ..................................................................................................... 53 Chapter 3: Homing Range of Cerceris fumipennis .............................................................................. 57 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 57 Methods ..................................................................................................................................... 59 Results ....................................................................................................................................... 63 Discussion ................................................................................................................................. 65 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 67 Chapter 4: General Conclusions ................................................................................................... 68 Appendix ....................................................................................................................................... 70 Literature Cited …………………………………………………………………………….........73 vi List of Tables Table 1. Size information on the excavated nests………………………………………………70 Table 2. Mass and size classes of beetle species….…………………………………………….39