| determination of ige antibodies to polistes dominulus, vespula germanica and vespa crabro in sera of patients allergic to vespids. | the study was undertaken to investigate the presence of ige antibodies to polistes dominulus (pd), vespula germanica (vg) and vespa crabro (vc) in a large group of sera belonging to patients sensitized to vespids in spain. rast values showed that although the majority of patients had ige antibodies to pd, vg and vc, there was a marked predominance of pd. these results were related to the distribution of the insect in the areas where the sera were obtained. due to geographical and insect distribu ... | 1991 | 2039077 |
| epidemiological study of the prevalence of allergic reactions to hymenoptera in a rural population in the mediterranean area. | systemic allergic reactions to hymenoptera venom occur in a percentage that varies from 0.4 to 3.3%. epidemiological studies indicate that from 15 to 25% of the general population can be sensitized to different hymenoptera venom as well as the fact that the degree of exposure may be related to the prevalence found in those studies. | 1999 | 10457110 |
| insurance-based advantages for subordinate co-foundresses in a temperate paper wasp. | recent explanations for the evolution of eusociality, focusing more on costs and benefits than relatedness, are largely untested. we validate one such model by showing that helpers in foundress groups of the paper wasp polistes dominulus benefit from an insurance-based mechanism known as assured fitness returns (afrs). experimental helper removals left remaining group members with more offspring than they would normally rear. reduced groups succeeded in preserving the dead helpers' investment by ... | 2003 | 12908983 |
| can cuticular lipids provide sufficient information for within-colony nepotism in wasps? | inclusive fitness theory predicts that members of non-clonal societies will gain by directing altruistic acts towards their closest relatives. multiple mating by queens and multiple queens creates distinct full-sister groups in many hymenopteran societies within which nepotism might occur. however, the weight of empirical data suggests that nepotism within full-sister groups is absent. it has been suggested that a lack of reliable recognition markers is responsible. in this paper, we investigate ... | 2004 | 15209109 |
| cuticular hydrocarbon dynamics in young adult polistes dominulus (hymenoptera: vespidae) and the role of linear hydrocarbons in nestmate recognition systems. | in social insects, cuticular hydrocarbons (chcs) play an important role in nestmate discrimination processes, but young individuals are usually not discriminated. we studied chc changes in young workers of the social wasp polistes dominulus. a quantitative estimation demonstrated that total quantities of chcs increased after emergence, with branched alkanes increasing drastically when compared with other classes of hydrocarbons. the relative quantity of longer-chain compounds increased with resp ... | 2004 | 15518661 |
| tiny genomes and endoreduplication in strepsiptera. | using flow cytometry, the genome sizes of two species of strepsiptera were studied: that of male caenocholax fenyesi texensis kathirithamby & johnston (myrmecolacidae) at 108 mb, which is the smallest insect genome documented to date; and those of male and female xenos vesparum rossi (stylopidae), which are 1c = 130 and 133 mb, respectively. the genome sizes of the following were analysed for comparative purposes: (a) the hessian fly, mayetiola destructor (say), which was previously reported to ... | 2004 | 15606806 |
| cuticular hydrocarbons of polistes dominulus as a biogeographic tool: a study of populations from the tuscan archipelago and surrounding areas. | in social insects, the types and proportions of epicuticular lipids may exhibit significant diversity as a result of factors such as age, sex, caste, rank, nest, and relatedness. it is known that these variations can be used by social insects to acquire information regarding conspecific individuals. recent findings have shown that different populations of polistes dominulus (christ.) have distinctly different chemical cuticular profiles, and that wasps are able to recognize individuals of their ... | 2004 | 15672661 |
| natural history of hymenoptera venom allergy in eastern spain. | the natural history of stings, the clinical reaction of the patient and in vivo and in vitro tests are necessary parameters to assess before initiating hymenoptera venom immunotherapy. in the decision to initiate immunotherapy with hymenoptera venom, it is not usual to evaluate the natural history of the disease, which seems to be self-limiting and therefore of variable clinical significance. | 2005 | 15725189 |
| direct assessment of queen quality and lack of worker suppression in a paper wasp. | assessing a conspecific's potential is often crucial to increase one's fitness, e.g. in female choice, contests with rivals or reproductive conflicts in animal societies. in the latter, helpers benefit from accurately assessing the fertility of the breeder as an indication of inclusive fitness. there is evidence that this can be achieved using chemical correlates of reproductive activity. here, we show that queen quality can be assessed by directly monitoring her reproductive output. in the pape ... | 2005 | 16006333 |
| social paper wasps as bioindicators: a preliminary research with polistes dominulus (hymenoptera vespidae) as a trace metal accumulator. | the wasps of the genus polistes (paper wasps), have a worldwide distribution and are widespread in human-built areas. like other social wasps, they are at the top of food chains and are therefore exposed to the dangers of biomagnification, given that the larvae are fed predominantly with prey that consist of herbivorous insects. the larval faeces, larval fecal masses, in the form of a semi-solid ball, are made up of the residues of the diet of the larva, which are emitted and compressed on the f ... | 2006 | 16406481 |
| dominulin a and b: two new antibacterial peptides identified on the cuticle and in the venom of the social paper wasp polistes dominulus using maldi-tof, maldi-tof/tof, and esi-ion trap. | two new antibacterial peptides, denominated as dominulin a and b, have been found on the cuticle and in the venom of females of the social paper wasp polistes dominulus. the amino acidic sequence of the two peptides, determined by mass spectrometry, is inwkkiae vggkil ssl for dominulin a (mw = 1854 da) and inwkkiaeigkqvl sal (mw = 1909 da) for dominulin b. their presence on the cuticle was confirmed using maldi-tof by means of micro-extractions and direct analyses on body parts. the presence in ... | 2006 | 16446098 |
| social dominance molds cuticular and egg chemical blends in a paper wasp. | hamilton's theory [1] for the evolution of social behaviour predicts that helpers may renounce direct reproduction to help their more fertile kin. intra-colony recognition among queens and helpers (subordinate queens or workers) is consequently a central issue in insect sociobiology. in social insects, cuticular hydrocarbons (chcs) are involved in recognition, and egg-laying and non-egg-laying individuals often differ in chc composition. these differences are assumed to be directly determined by ... | 2007 | 17610828 |
| not only cuticular lipids: first evidence of differences between foundresses and their daughters in polar substances in the paper wasp polistes dominulus. | several studies have shown that differences in the relative abundance of cuticular hydrocarbons occur between reproductives and non-reproductives in many social insects. these differences also exist between polistes dominulus foundresses and their first emerged daughters (usually indicated as workers), but they gradually disappear when workers from orphaned colonies develop their ovaries and assume a reproductive role in the colony. however, hydrocarbons are not the exclusive components of cutic ... | 2008 | 17884084 |
| an anticoagulant serine protease from the wasp venom of vespa magnifica. | wasp is an important venomous animal that can induce human fatalities. coagulopathy is a clinical symptom after massive wasp stings, but the reason leading to the envenomation manifestation is still not known. in this paper, a toxin protein is purified and characterized by sephadex g-75 gel filtration, cm-sephadex c-25 cationic exchange and fast protein liquid chromatography (fplc) from the venom of the wasp, vespa magnifica (smith). this protein, named magnvesin, contains serine protease-like a ... | 2008 | 18308355 |
| genetic relatedness in early associations of polistes dominulus: from related to unrelated helpers. | indirect benefits obtained through the reproduction of relatives are fundamental in the formation and maintenance of groups. here, we examine the hypothesis that females of the temperate paper wasp polistes dominulus preferentially form groups with close relatives. genetic relatedness data were obtained for 180 groups of females collected at the early stages of the nesting cycle of a large population of p. dominulus in two sites in southwestern spain. average within-group relatedness values rang ... | 2008 | 18482265 |
| safety and efficacy of immunotherapy with polistes dominulus venom: results from a large italian database. | | 2009 | 19416139 |
| parasitic infection protects wasp larvae against a bacterial challenge. | host antibacterial defense after strepsiptera parasitization is a complex and rather unexplored topic. the way how these parasites interact with bacteria invading into the host insect during an infection is completely unknown. in the present study we demonstrate that larvae of the paper wasp polistes dominulus are more efficient at eliminating bacteria when they are parasitized by the strepsipteran insect xenos vesparum. we looked at the expression levels of the antimicrobial peptide defensin an ... | 2010 | 20546915 |
| mucor nidicola sp. nov., a novel fungal species isolated from an invasive paper wasp nest. | mucor nidicola sp. nov. is a novel mucoralean fungus isolated from a nest of the invasive paper wasp, polistes dominulus. phylogenetic analysis based on the internal transcribed spacers (its) and 5.8s rrna gene sequences, along with physiological tests, revealed that this is a species within the genus mucor. the new species also includes a representative that had previously been characterized as part of the m. hiemalis complex. unlike the type strain of m. hiemalis, these two strains can grow at ... | 2011 | 21930681 |
| actinomycetes with antimicrobial activity isolated from paper wasp (hymenoptera: vespidae: polistinae) nests. | actinomycetes-a group of antimicrobial producing bacteria-have been successfully cultured and characterized from the nest material of diverse arthropods. some are symbionts that produce antimicrobial chemicals found to protect nest brood and resources from pathogenic microbes. others have no known fitness relationship with their associated insects, but have been found to produce antimicrobials in vitro. consequently, insect nest material is being investigated as a new source of novel antimicrobi ... | 2013 | 23905732 |
| ventricular fibrillation after a hymenoptera sting. | a 54-year-old male, who had presented 2 ventricular fibrillation (vf) episodes with post-anoxic coma and later a return to consciousness and to a sinusal rhythm after defibrillation, have been placed a ventricular intracavitary stimulator (aicd). since all the tests including the coronarygraphy have been found normal, we have paid attention to the anamnesis revealing an apis mellifera sting before both vf episodes, previously considered irrelevant for the absence of relevant local symptoms. intr ... | 2008 | 17442421 |
| expression of odorant-binding proteins and chemosensory proteins in some hymenoptera. | the expression of chemosensory proteins (csps) and odorant-binding proteins (obps) in individuals of different castes and ages have been monitored in three species of social hymenopterans, polistes dominulus (hymenoptera, vespidae), vespa crabro (hymenoptera, vespidae) and apis mellifera (hymenoptera, apidae), using pcr with specific primers and polyclonal antibodies. in the paper wasp p. dominulus, obp is equally expressed in antennae, wings and legs of all castes and ages, while csp is often s ... | 2005 | 15763466 |
| the midgut ultrastructure of the endoparasite xenos vesparum (rossi) (insecta, strepsiptera) during post-embryonic development and stable carbon isotopic analyses of the nutrient uptake. | females of the endoparasite xenos vesparum (strepsiptera, stylopidae) may survive for months inside the host polistes dominulus (hymenoptera, vespidae). the midgut structure and function in larval instars and neotenic females has been studied by light and electron microscope and by stable carbon isotopic technique. the 1st instar larva utilizes the yolk material contained in the gut lumen, whereas the subsequent larval instars are actively involved in nutrient uptake from the wasp hemolymph and ... | 2007 | 18089098 |
| predatory behavior of polistes dominulus wasps in response to cardenolides and glucosinolates in pieris napi caterpillars. | to examine how plant allelochemicals in prey affect foraging choices made by generalist predator paper wasps, polistes dominulus (vespidae), we compared predation on pieris napi (pieridae) caterpillars reared on host plants with different allelochemicals. in naturalistic behavioral choice experiments, free-flying wasps chose between living pierids reared on cabbage (brassica oleracea), which lacks deterrent allelochemicals, or alternate host plants with potentially deterrent allelochemicals. the ... | 2007 | 17453324 |
| respiration and metabolism of the resting european paper wasp (polistes dominulus). | the european paper wasp, polistes dominulus christ, is an abundant wasp species in south and central europe which dispersed to the north in recent times. polistes dominulus exhibits an energy-extensive mode of life, spending much time resting at the nest, which should be reflected in adaptations regarding gas exchange and standard metabolism. we analysed the resting metabolism (co2 emission) of polistes dominulus workers in the ambient temperature range an individual may be exposed to during a b ... | 2015 | 26135799 |
| direct and indirect effects of predatory wasps (polistes sp.: vespidae) on gregarious caterpillars (hemileuca lucina: saturniidae). | we examined how predation by vespid wasps,polistes dominulus andp. fuscatus, affected the behavior, growth rate and survivorship of aggregated caterpillars ofhemileuca lucina (saturniidae). although these larvae can exhibit a variety of defense and escape behaviors, in general larvae reacted to wasp attacks by clinging to the hostplant. neighboring larvae in the aggregation responded by leaving the feeding site and moving to the interior or base of the plant. to determine wheter wasp attack affe ... | 1988 | 28312439 |