Solitary Wasps. Behavior And Natural History

While social wasps like hornets and yellow jackets garner a lot of publicity (most of it negative), the vast majority of wasp species, including digger wasps, spider wasps, and mud-daubers, are solitary. Elegant in appearance and distinctive in their actions, solitary wasps have long fascinated observers and have been the subject of narratives by such naturalists and scientists as Jean Henri Fabre, Niko Tinbergen, and Howard Ensign Evans. Solitary wasps are also of special interest to ethologists and evolutionary biologists. Each adult female solitary wasp forages alone, and if she builds a nest, it is occupied solely by herself and her offspring. Females use their stings mainly for hunting, rather than for defense, and exhibit a wide range of foraging and parental behaviors. Kevin M. O'Neill provides readable yet thorough accounts of the natural history of the major families of solitary wasps and also surveys the current state of scientific research on these insects. Numerous comprehensive tables of quantitative data serve as an excellent reference for biologists. Solitary Wasps: Behavior and Natural History is the first general survey of the subject in more than 25 years and is the best place to turn for information about the biology and compelling behavior of these common insects. Topics covered in Solitary Wasps: Behavior and Natural History include: Classification of the solitary wasps and their relation to other Hymenoptera; foraging and nesting behaviors mating and parental strategies; thermoregulation; natural enemies; defensive strategies; directions for future research.