Abstract
Nest-site selection by the solitary ground-nesting wasp Ammophila dysmicaMenke was studied during 1982–1986 in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains. Digging females detected and discriminated among members of a complex of insect intruders, including a number of predators and parasites. In response to some natural enemies, wasps sometimes permanently abandoned nests under construction. These selective nest abandonments reduced the mean number of cleptoparasitic chrysidid wasps, Argochrysis armillaBohart, attending the excavation of completed nests. The number of A. armillaattending a nest excavation correlated positively with the probability of nest parasitism by this species. Selective nest abandonment may reduce parasitism rates.
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Rosenheim, J.A. Parasite presence acts as a proximate cue in the nest-site selection process of the solitary digger wasp,Ammophila dysmica (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae). J Insect Behav 1, 333–342 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01054496
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01054496