Group hunting by workers of two Neotropical swarm-founding paper wasps, Parachartergus apicalis and Agelaia sp.

摘要

Here we report field observations of group hunting by two Neotropical species of paper wasps, Parachartergus apicalis in Costa Rica and Agelaia cf. angulata in Peru. In both cases, multiple workers simultaneously attacked live caterpillar prey. We describe the wasps' behavior and their interactions with the relatively large-bodied (> 80 mm length) caterpillars, and we discuss the implications of these observations for paper wasp behavior and ecology.