Biology of the southern giant hornet, : nest architecture, morphological differences among castes, and the genetic structure of colonies.

Giant hornets in the genus are apex predators that are known throughout Asia for their exceptional size and devastating group attacks on social insect colonies. The giant hornets include , a well-studied and widespread temperate species, and , a poorly known sister species that is limited to subtropical and tropical regions of Southeast Asia. Both species have been recently documented on the west coast of North America, raising urgent questions about their potential impact in novel ecosystems.

Müllerian mimicry among bees and wasps: a review of current knowledge and future avenues of research.

Many bees and stinging wasps, or aculeates, exhibit striking colour patterns or conspicuous coloration, such as black and yellow stripes. Such coloration is often interpreted as an aposematic signal advertising aculeate defences: the venomous sting. Aposematism can lead to Müllerian mimicry, the convergence of signals among different species unpalatable to predators.

Seasonal Variations of Pollinator Assemblages among Urban and Rural Habitats: A Comparative Approach Using a Standardized Plant Community.

Even though urban green spaces may host a relatively high diversity of wild bees, urban environments impact the pollinator taxonomic and functional diversity in a way that is still misunderstood. Here, we provide an assessment of the taxonomic and functional composition of pollinator assemblages and their response to urbanization in the Paris region (France). We performed a spring-to-fall survey of insect pollinators in green spaces embedded in a dense urban matrix and in rural grasslands, using a plant setup standardized across sites and throughout the seasons.

Wasp Waist and Flight: Convergent Evolution in Wasps Reveals a Link between Wings and Body Shapes.

Insect flight is made possible by different morphological structures: wings produce the lift, the thorax drives the wings' movements, and the abdomen serves as a secondary control device. As such, the covariation of these structures could reflect functional constraints related to flight performances. This study examines evolutionary convergences in wasp body shapes to provide the first evidence for morphological integration among insect wings, thorax, and abdomen.

Running in circles in phylomorphospace: host environment constrains morphological diversification in parasitic wasps.

Understanding phenotypic diversification and the conditions that spur morphological novelty or constraint is a major theme in evolutionary biology. Unequal morphological diversity between sister clades can result from either differences in the rate of morphological change or in the ability of clades to explore novel phenotype ranges. We combine an existing phylogenetic framework with new phylogenomic data and geometric morphometrics to explore the relative roles of rate versus mode of morphological evolution for a hyperdiverse group: cryptine ichneumonid wasps.

Testing the Dutilleul syndrome: host use drives the convergent evolution of multiple traits in parasitic wasps.

Common life-history aspects among independent lineages often result in the repeated evolution of suites of adaptive traits, or 'syndromes'. Such syndromes can be key avenues to understand relationships between morphological and ecological traits, but are rarely tested due to insufficient trait shift repetitions. We use a hyperdiverse lineage to investigate the evolution of a syndrome.

Comprehensive evolutionary analysis of the Anthroherpon radiation (Coleoptera, Leiodidae, Leptodirini).

The genus Anthroherpon Reitter, 1889 exhibits the most pronounced troglomorphic characters among Coleoptera, and represents one of the most spectacular radiations of subterranean beetles. However, radiation, diversification, and biogeography of this genus have never been studied in a phylogenetic context. This study provides a comprehensive evolutionary analysis of the Anthroherpon radiation, using a dated molecular phylogeny as a framework for understanding Anthroherpon diversification, reconstructing the ancestral range, and exploring troglomorphic diversity.

Phylogeny, landmark analysis and the use of wing venation to study the evolution of social wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Vespinae).

Wing venation provides useful characters with which to classify extant and fossil insects. Recently, quantification of its shape using landmarks has increased the potential of wing venation to distinguish taxa. However, the use of wing landmarks in phylogenetic analyses remains largely unexplored.

Phylogenetic tests reject Emery's rule in the evolution of social parasitism in yellowjackets and hornets (Hymenoptera: Vespidae, Vespinae).

Social parasites exploit the brood-care behaviour and social structure of one or more host species. Within the social Hymenoptera there are different types of social parasitism. In its extreme form, species of obligate social parasites, or inquilines, do not have the worker caste and depend entirely on the workers of a host species to raise their reproductive offspring.

Patriline Differences Reveal Genetic Influence on Forewing Size and Shape in a Yellowjacket Wasp (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Vespula flavopilosa Jacobson, 1978).

The wing venation is frequently used as a morphological marker to distinguish biological groups among insects. With geometric morphometrics, minute shape differences can be detected between closely related species or populations, making this technique useful for taxonomy. However, the direct influence of genetic differences on wing morphology has not been explored within colonies of social insects.

A new paper wasp from Late Eocene of France (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Polistinae).

The new vespid genus and species Palaeopolistes jattioti gen. et. sp.

Geographic variation of melanisation patterns in a hornet species: genetic differences, climatic pressures or aposematic constraints?

Coloration of stinging insects is often based on contrasted patterns of light and black pigmentations as a warning signal to predators. However, in many social wasp species, geographic variation drastically modifies this signal through melanic polymorphism potentially driven by different selective pressures. To date, surprisingly little is known about the geographic variation of coloration of social wasps in relation to aposematism and melanism and to genetic and developmental constraints.