Auplopus cf. brasiliensis

Marinho, Diego & Vivallo, Felipe, 2020, Notes on the bionomy of two spider wasp species in an urban forest fragment in Brazil, Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 60, pp. 1-7 : 5

Auplopus cf. brasiliensis

Only one nest of this species was collected in July/2017 ( Table 1). This species was the only Hymenoptera species to build its nest in a hose trap. The nest had three brood cells: two of them were attacked by the parasitoid wasp Chaenotetratischus neotropicalis Marinho et al., 2019 (Eulophidae) and the third cell had a male specimen ( Tables 1 and 2). One cell was opened (the broken cell in Fig. 4 ; the same brood cell is displayed in Marinho et al. (2019),Figs.14-15, with the cocoon of the host full of several parasitoid pupae). The parasitoids were found inside the thick whitish cocoon, suggesting that they attacked the hosts right after it spun the cocoon and pupated. No specimens emerged from the second parasitized cell.This cell was opened after the first two specimens emerged; the specimens inside were also identified as C. neotropicalis . Due to the small size and fragile complexion, all of them were dried by the time the cell was opened.

The brood cells were arranged horizontally to the substrate, two cells side by side on the trap’s floor and one built on top of the first two cells ( Fig. 4 ). The cell’s surface was papillated and had a rough aspect, whereas the inner surface was smooth. The anterior part of the cell was truncated, conferring it a jug-shaped form. The measurements taken from this nest are shown in Table 3.

Figures

Figure 4. Nest of Auplopus cf. brasiliensis.The third cell broke during handling. Note the arrangement of the cells forming a cluster, the papillated surface suggesting the employment of several mud pellets to construct the cells.Scale bar = 0.5 cm.