Meeting Abstract

69.1  Wednesday, Jan. 6  A role for the cost of flight in the Polistes dominulus invasion WEINER, Susan A*; NOBLE, Katherine; FLYNN, Galen; WOODS, William A; STARKS, Philip T.; Tufts University; Smith College; University of New Hampshire; Tufts University; Tufts University susan.weiner@tufts.edu

Polistes dominulus is an invasive paper wasp from the Mediterranean that has rapidly spread throughout North America since it was first observed in 1978. P. dominulus is more successful than its New England congener, P. fuscatus because P. dominulus produces larger nests with more reproductives. One reason for this is that P. dominulus produces workers earlier in the season. In the pre-worker period, P. dominulus foundresses make more foraging trips, which may help speed the growth of the early workers. If flight is less energetically expensive in P. dominulus, that lower cost might help to explain how P. dominulus foundresses are able to make more foraging trips. In this experiment we studied flight metabolic rate (FMR) in P. dominulus and P. fuscatus at a variety of temperatures. P. dominulus was shown to have a steeper slope of increasing FMR with increasing temperature and a lower FMR than P. fuscatus at low temperatures. This suggests that, at the low spring temperatures that occur during the pre-worker period, P. dominulus foundresses may be able to forage with greater energetic efficiency. This increased efficiency may allow them to bring more prey to their developing workers, and thus produce a first brood earlier in the season.