Colony structure and nest chemical profiling of selected species of wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae), in Dir, Pakistan
Paper Details
Colony structure and nest chemical profiling of selected species of wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae), in Dir, Pakistan
Abstract
Wasps are found throughout the world, having great economic importance. Though they are playing a positive role in the ecosystem by promoting pollination, act as a predator for various insect’s pest, they also negative impact upon honey bee farming, local ecosystem and residential. The present study was conducted from April, 2015 to November, 2017 during which a total of 57 nest samples were collected in the study area. Various aspects of the colony structure were examined for the collected nest and chemical profiling of the nest was made by XRD. The solitary wasp’s (Euminanae) nests were made of mud having spindle shaped cells with size of 7.9 mm to 29.2 mm, while the nest of social wasps were made of paper material. The Vespine’s nest was globular to spindle in shape and were found either areal or underground, having the cell size 9 mm to 28 mm. The Polistinae’s nest was mostly found areal either on trees or buildings, with cell size varying from 9.2 mm to 19.6 mm. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results revealed that the nest of Vespinnae contain different compound like Ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3), 9-amidenylon6oligomer (C59H111N9O9), Methanamine (C6H12N4),4,4`Bis (pethoxybenzylideneamino)biphenyl (C29H26N2O2) while that of Polistinae contained Methylene oxalate C(HCO2)2, Calcium silicate hydrate Ca3Si3O9.H2O, Adenine maleic acid C9H9N5O4, NomifansineC16H18N2, L-Thermospine C15H20N2O and Calcium nitride Ca3N2. Similarly the nest of Euminanae contained calcium, silicon and aluminum in their respective phases like Calcium carbonate CaCO3, Silicon oxide SiO2, Calcium magnesiumsilicatehydroideCa2Mg5Si8O22, aluminum Silicate hydroxide Ca4Si5O13 (OH) 2. Further studies is required to explore the antimicrobial activities of these nest extracts as some chemicals found in the nest of Polistis species have close structural resemblance with some antibiotics.
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