Some Colony Factors Influencing the Hunting Activity of Polistes chinensis antennalis PEREZ : Hymenoptera : Vespidae

抄録

Field examinations were made to determine the more important colony factors influencing the hunting activity of Polistes chinensis antennalis PEREZ. The degree of hunting activity was directly proportional to the number of workers. Low hunting activity before emergence of the first workers was due partly to solitariness of foundresses and partly to their low hunting efficiency as compared with that of workers. Hunting activity increased with an increase in the number of the 3rd to 5th instar larvae after the first workers emerged. Age polytehism among workers was observed. Rapid increase of the hunting activity was due partly to their high hunting efficiency enhanced by the age polyethism until the emergence of the first males. The hunting activity decreased after the emergence of the first males partly because the number of larvae decreased owing to cannibalism by adults and partly because workers devoted more labor to collecting liquid food than to hunting. It is concluded that the number of larvae has a great effect on the hunting activity of workers, but that the number of reproductives also has an effect on it.