A colony of the hornet vespa philippinensis (Hymenoptera : vespidae)

• Main Author: Starr, Christopher K.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 1987
• Subjects: Hymenoptera; Vespa > Philippines; Biology
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/9775
• Institution: De La Salle University

The composition of a single colony ofVespa philippinensis Saussure from Leyte island, Philippines is described. Workers and gynes can be distinguished by size. There appear also to be two size modes of males, much less distinct. In each sex, head-width is isometric with forewing-length. The colony contained 700 adults.Dissection of 58% of the gynes showed none with developed ovaries, suggesting that the colony had a single queen or was queenless. In a smaller sample of workers, 6% without wing-wear and none with wing-wear had developed ovaries. Fat-body was more developed in gynes than workers.No gyne or male showed wear to the ends of the forewings, while 44% of workers shwed at least some wear, independently size. Workers returning to the nest had significantly greater wing-wear but showed the same size distribution. The division of labor within the worker caste is probably age-based.The colony included 838 immatures beyond the fourth larval instar, with a fresh biomass of 1,2 and dry biomas of 0.3 kg. About 1,480 new adults had been produced in the nest. Unlike in temperate and subtropicalVespa, cells were not reutilized to produce a second cycle of brood.The colony's production schedule of workers and sexuals did not fit thebang-bang model.