Nest Architecture of the Australian Paper Wasp Ropalidia Romandi Cabeti , With a Note on its Developmental Process (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

Abstract

Nest architecture of Ropalidia romandi cabeti was described, based on 2 incipient (an active and an abandoned) nests and 3 developed ones. Developed nests were spherical, or hemispherical when built under flat surfaces, consisted of several to more than 10 horizontal combs with oval or irregular shapes. Each comb was suspended by many pedicels from the upper one. Since several combs were simultaneously constructed at the same story, they often produced irregular interconnections that caused complex stair-like, or “semispiral” structures. Combs were entirely surrounded by an outer envelope with a small entrance hole at the lower tip. The envelope was probably constructed after the first group of combs had been completed. Materials for both cells and envelope were plant fibers glued together with salivary secretion. The surface of envelope was more thickly coated with the secretion than cell walls. The largest nest had about 30,000 cells in more than l0 stories of combs that had a surface area of 1,933 cm². Its dimensions were 21.5 cm in longer diameter and 17.5 cm in height.