Nesting Philanthine Wasp Cerceris Fumipennis (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) in North Carolina Author(S): W
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Buprestidae Collected as Prey by the Solitary, Ground- Nesting Philanthine Wasp Cerceris fumipennis (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) in North Carolina Author(s): W. G. Swink , S. M. Paiero , and C. A. Nalepa Source: Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 106(1):111-116. 2013. Published By: Entomological Society of America URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1603/AN12113 BioOne (www.bioone.org) is a nonprofit, online aggregation of core research in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences. BioOne provides a sustainable online platform for over 170 journals and books published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses. Your use of this PDF, the BioOne Web site, and all posted and associated content indicates your acceptance of BioOne’s Terms of Use, available at www.bioone.org/page/terms_of_use. Usage of BioOne content is strictly limited to personal, educational, and non-commercial use. Commercial inquiries or rights and permissions requests should be directed to the individual publisher as copyright holder. BioOne sees sustainable scholarly publishing as an inherently collaborative enterprise connecting authors, nonprofit publishers, academic institutions, research libraries, and research funders in the common goal of maximizing access to critical research. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY AND BIODIVERSITY Buprestidae Collected as Prey by the Solitary, Ground-Nesting Philanthine Wasp Cerceris fumipennis (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) in North Carolina 1 2 1,3 W. G. SWINK, S. M. PAIERO, AND C. A. NALEPA Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 106(1): 111Ð116 (2013); DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1603/AN12113 ABSTRACT The solitary, ground-nesting crabronid wasp Cerceris fumipennis Say excels at detecting buprestid diversity in a given geographic area, and after the introduction of the invasive pest emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire) to the United States in 2002, has been developed as an effective tool for the biosurveillance of pest Buprestidae in eastern North America. Here we report records of Buprestidae collected from foraging C. fumipennis in 13 North Carolina counties over the course of three seasons (2009Ð2011). Nests of the wasp were located, and beetle prey collected from foraging females in three geographic regions, with a concentration on the western, mountainous area of the state. In total, 909 beetles were collected, comprising 52 buprestid species that included eight native pests and 17 species of Agrilus. Our results emphasize the utility of C. fumipennis in documenting buprestid biodiversity and in detecting forest pests. Eight new state records and Þve new prey records for the wasp are here recorded. KEY WORDS Agrilus, foraging, biosurveillance, emerald ash borer, Hymenoptera The ground-nesting, solitary wasp Cerceris fumipennis Materials and Methods Say preys almost exclusively on adult wood-boring C. fumipennis prefers to nest in hard-packed, sandy beetles of the family Buprestidae. This foraging be- soil in sunny areas that have some degree of human havior is the basis for its current development as a activity (Evans 1971, Careless 2009, Careless et al. 2009); biosurveillance tool for the efÞcient detection of pest these features are characteristic of baseball and softball buprestid beetles, including emerald ash borer Agrilus diamonds. Ball diamonds were located using Google planipennis Fairmaire, in Canada and several locations Earth 5 and surveyed for nests of the wasp using tech- in the eastern United States (Marshall et al. 2005, niques discussed in Nalepa et al. (2012). Those Þelds that Careless 2009, Careless et al. 2009, Careless and Mar- Ն shall 2010). Recently, an emerald ash borer captured supported 15 C. fumipennis nests were revisited to by C. fumipennis was the Þrst record of that invasive collect beetle prey from foraging females. Permission to pest in the state of Connecticut (Stafford and Rut- work on speciÞc Þelds was obtained from relevant ledge 2012). The wasp also excels at documenting schools or directors of Parks and Recreation. biodiversity of Buprestidae in a given region. For ex- Four techniques developed by Marshall et al. ample, in a short study in an Ontario park, C. fumi- (2005) and Careless (2009) were used to collect beetle pennis collected 12 buprestid species in Þve genera, prey from C. fumipennis. First, foraging females re- three of which were new species records for Canada turning to the nest with prey were captured with a (Marshall et al. 2005). sweep net, her prey collected, and the wasp set free. The goal of the current study was to begin docu- Second, a wasp encumbered by prey can be somewhat menting the diversity of Buprestidae detected by C. sluggish when ßying to the nest, and will drop her fumipennis in North Carolina (NC) before the estab- cargo if tapped gently with the Þngers. Third, “Care- lishment of emerald ash borer in the state. Here we less Collars” (Careless et al. 2009, Figs. 11Ð12) were ϫ report the results of prey collections from C. fumipen- placed over the nest entrance. These collars are 2.5 nis in 13 NC counties over the course of three Þeld 7.5 cm thin plastic strips, with a hole punched near the seasons, from 2009 to 2011. margin of each end using a standard ofÞce hole punch. A golf tee is driven through one hole to anchor the collar to the ground, and the other hole is positioned over the nest entrance. The hole is large enough to 1 BeneÞcial Insects Laboratory, North Carolina Department of Ag- allow a female to exit her nest, but prevents or delays riculture & Consumer Services, 1060 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, her reentry while carrying prey; beetles are removed NC 27699-1060. from the wasps as they struggle to reenter nests after 2 School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1. foraging trips. Fourth, at our initial arrival at a nesting 3 Corresponding author, e-mail: [email protected]. site we opportunistically collected discarded prey. 0013-8746/13/0111Ð0116$04.00/0 ᭧ 2013 Entomological Society of America 112 ANNALS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA Vol. 106, no. 1 tles were collected 2009Ð2011 from C. fumipennis dur- ing their active season in 13 counties representing each of these regions (Fig. 2). In 2009 we began col- lecting locally from nesting sites in Wake Co., and in 2010 began expanding the survey east and west. In 2011 we concentrated our efforts in the western, mountainous part of the state (10 counties) because of the recent discovery of emerald ash borer in several Tennessee counties adjacent to the western border of NC (updated maps available at http:// www.emeraldashborer.info/map.cfm). Prey beetles were frozen until pinned and labeled, then identiÞed by W. G. Swink and S. M. Paiero. David Stephan (NC State University) identiÞed or conÞrmed several species for us, and specimens in the genera Chrysobothris and Agrilus were sent to Joshua P. Basham (Tennessee State University) for identiÞcation or con- Þrmation. Beetles have been deposited in the NC State University Insect Museum (Raleigh, NC), the University of Guelph Insect Collection (Guelph, Ontario, Canada), and in the collection of the NC Department of Agricul- ture BeneÞcial Insects Laboratory (Cary, NC). Fig. 1. (A) Nest of Cerceris fumipennis with 10 discarded buprestids in and around the tumulus; the box highlights Þve of these. (B) Detail of beetles. (Online Þgure in color.) Results and Discussion In total, 909 beetles representing 11 genera and 52 These discards are common (e.g., Grossbeck 1912), species of Buprestidae were collected from C. fumi- and are thought to occur when females are fatigued, pennis in NC between 2009 and 2011: 222 beetles from when males attempt to mate with a female returning the Piedmont region of the state, 237 from the Coastal from a foraging trip (S.M.P., unpublished data), or Plain, and 450 from the Mountains. Thirteen species of when a nest is usurped by a conspeciÞc (Evans 2000, buprestid beetle were taken as prey in 2009, 24 species Rosenheim 1987). In the latter case, beetles collected in 2010, and 45 species in 2011; these numbers reßect and stored by the original owner are intentionally or both increased survey and collecting efforts and a accidentally removed from the nest as the new female wider geographic range of collection sites each year. becomes established (Field 1992; A. Hook, personal Variation in the number of C. fumipennis nests, tree communication). Nest usurpation is widespread in C. diversity in the vicinity of nests, foraging behavior of fumipennis (Careless 2009). We were able to collect the wasps, human activity at the nesting site (i.e., ball up to 10 discarded beetles at a single nest (Fig. 1). games), and the number and timing of our collection NC is typically divided into three geographical re- visits were all factors that inßuenced the number and gions: Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain. Bee- variety of collected prey, and also hindered the use of Fig. 2. Map of North Carolina divided into major geographic regions; buprestid beetles were collected from foraging Cerceris fumipennis females in the 13 highlighted counties 2009Ð2011. January 2013 SWINK ET AL.: BEETLE PREY COLLECTED BY Cerceris fumipennis 113 Fig. 3. The number of buprestid beetle species collected by Cerceris fumipennis 2009Ð2011. standard diversity indices. The genus most frequently striata F. were the most widespread species, with each collected was Buprestis and the species most fre- taken from 12 different locations spread across the quently collected was Buprestis maculipennis Gory three sampled geographic regions (Table 1). The sec- (Fig. 3). Buprestis lineata F., B. maculipennis, and B. ond most frequently collected buprestid was Phaenops 114 ANNALS OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA Vol. 106, no. 1 Table 1. Buprestidae collected by Cerceris fumipennis in North Table 2. Number of Buprestidae specimens and species col- Carolina by geographic region lected at sites across North Carolina from 2009 to 2011 Species C P M Species (cont.) C P M Total beetles No.