Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 April 2021 | 13(5): 18227–18236
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6428.13.5.18227-18236
#6428 | Received 17 July 2020 | Final
received 10 January 2021 | Finally accepted 17 April 2021
A new distribution record of mason wasp Pison
punctifrons Shuckard,
1838 (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae: Larrinae)
from Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
Rajiv K. Singh Bais 1 &
Aakash Singh Bais 2
1 Independent
researcher, A-13, Sector-33, Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201301, India.
2 Room no-12, Hostel-6,
IISER-Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 462066, India.
1 baisrajivsingh@gmail.com
(corresponding author), 2 baisaakashsingh@gmail.com
Editor: Anonymity requested. Date of publication: 26 April 2021 (online & print)
Citation: Bais, R.K.S. & A.S. Bais (2021). A new distribution record of mason wasp Pison punctifrons Shuckard, 1838 (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae:
Larrinae) from Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 13(5): 18227–18236. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6428.13.5.18227-18236
Copyright: © Bais & Bais 2021. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the
author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: None.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Author details: Rajiv K. Singh Bais is an independent
researcher with special interest in ecology of butterflies, moths and other
insects. Aakash Singh Bais
is an integrated masters student at Indian Institute of Science Education and
Research (IISER) Bhopal in his 3rd year. He works in the field of nature
conservation through his writings, paintings and nature photography.
Author contribution: RKSB prepared the conceptual framework for the
study, conducted literature survey and prepared the manuscript. ASB conducted
the fieldwork including photography and prepared all the illustrations for this
note.
Acknowledgements: Authors are thankful
to the editor and two anonymous referees for critically examining and offering
comments on the original manuscript. These comments resulted in greatly
improved final version of this note.
Abstract: This paper reports
occurrence of mason wasp Pison punctifrons Shuckard, 1838
from Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India.
This is a new distribution record for the species. This paper examines the nest architecture and
prey choices of the wasp and carries the photographic record of a live P. punctifrons Shuckard on her
nest with prey.
Keywords: Mud-nest, prey
choice, range extension.
Introduction
Pison punctifrons Shuckard, 1838
has never been reported before from Noida or its surrounding areas, including
Delhi. Existing records for this species
in India, as per Pulawski (2015) are only from Bihar
(Purnia), West Bengal (Barrackpore as P. suspiciosum Smith, 1858, now a synonym of P. punctifrons Shuckard), and
Uttar Pradesh (Mussoorie as P. striolatum
Cameron, 1897, now a synonym of P. punctifrons
Shuckard).
Additionally, there is one record of this species from Kerala (Sudheendrakumar 1989).
This
Note reports the occurrence of Pison punctifrons Shuckard from
Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India – a new distribution record. Figure 1 presents the distribution pattern of
the species in India. Also there are
details of nest and prey of P. punctifrons
(Image 1). Classification followed here
is as per Bohart (1976).
Nesting
activities were studied in a single storeyed residential house in sector 33 of
Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. Location
coordinates are: 28.589N & 77.354E.
Main
field observations were conducted from 03 Sep 2015 to 01 Oct 2015 and again
from 08 May 2020 to 06 June 2020.
Additional intermittent observations were also made to keep records of
the old (inactive) nests in the study area.
Daytime high temperature during the study period ranged 32–37 oC in 2015 and 32–45 oC
in 2020.
Opportunistic
as well as systematic observations were conducted for the study of this
wasp. On 03 Sep 2015, a small, black
wasp was discovered building tiny barrel shaped clustered mud cells of the nest
on the handrails of the stairs just about 1.5m above the ground in the study
area. Observations were made and
photographs taken. Contents of the last
provisioned cell were collected for the identification of the prey. The nest, in general, was not disturbed.
On
08 May 2020 a wasp was spotted again building nest in the study area. Nest building and provisioning activities
were observed and photographed / videographed. Contents of the last cell were collected for
identification. The wasp that emerged
last was also collected for the purpose of identification.
Study
area was intermittently searched for old nests during the study period. Old nests were given unique identification
numbers. Details of nests (location,
type, substrate, number of cells, height from ground) were recorded. Photographs (or sketches) of all the old
nests were maintained. Contents of older
nests without exit holes were collected for examination. Fully formed wasps were found in one old nest
inside a narrow cavity.
A
basic 100x optical microscope was used for the examination of the wasp including
forewing venation. Same setup was used
for the identification of the prey (spiders) to the family level. Focus stacking technique was used to
photograph wasp and smaller spiders using combination of microscope and digital
camera/ mobile phone. Inkscape vector
graphics software was used for preparing line diagrams.
Identification
of Pison punctifrons
Shuckard is based on the original descriptions of
Indian Pison Spinola
species by earlier workers.
Identification of spiders has been done with the help of (Tikader 1987; Jocqué 2007).
Forewing venation for identification
Of
the many variables in Pison Spinola, none is more striking than the forewing
venation. Wings have three or two submarginal cells, and the two-celled condition is clearly
the result of complete reduction of the second cell (Bohart
1976). Arrangement of recurrent veins
produces variety of wing patterns. The
m-cu crossveins of the forewing have been called the
recurrent veins. In wings with three
sub-marginal cells the first recurrent vein is received by submarginal
cell 1 or 2 or is interstitial. The
second recurrent vein is received by submarginal 2 or
3 or is interstitial (Bohart 1976). This wing venation pattern is the most
crucial clue to the identification of Pison
Spinola species.
Pison Spinola species
in India with three or two sub-marginal cells
Antropov (1994) reviewed ‘agile’ group of Pison Spinola species
(species having forewings with only two sub-marginal cells). So far as Indian species are concerned, this
study included P. pulawskii Antropov, 1994, P. erythropus
Kohl, 1884, P. agile (Smith, 1869), P. differens
Turner, 1916, and P. rothneyi Cameron,
1897. We used this information for
segregating Indian Pison Spinola
species into two categories: Pison Spinola with three sub-marginal cells in the forewing and
those with two sub-marginal cells (See Table 1). Bingham (1897) provides descriptions
of the Indian Pison Spinola
species.
As
per Table 1, there are only five Pison Spinola species found in India with three submarginal cells and this includes one doubtful species
namely Pison fasciatum
Radoszkowski.
Genus
Pseudonysson Radoszkowski,
1876 is presently a synonym of genus Pison Jurine in Spinola, 1808. Pseudonysson
fasciatus Radoszkowski,
1876 has been synonymized with Pison fasciatum (Radoszkowski,
1876) (Bohart 1976).
Turner
(1916) writes about Pison fasciatus
(Radoszkowski, 1876):
“The
description is poor, but apparently the species is allied to Pison algiricum
Kohl, 1898, but with normal antennae. To
this species I assign an Indian specimen with some doubt. Hab. S.E. Caucasus; Chapra,
Bengal (Mackenzie)”. There is no other
information available about this species from any other source. So, ignoring this doubtful species, there are
only four Pison Spinola
species in India with three submarginal cells.
Additional description
Female.
Total length 9mm, forewing 6mm, and colour entirely black. Forehead and prothorax thickly punctured
(Image 2). Clypeus with a large
protruding median lobe with rounded apical margin, without lateral lobes
(Figure 2). Clypeus and the face below
the eye incision (notch) densely covered with silvery pubescence. Propodeum at base coarsely and obliquely
striated (Image 3). Abdomen smooth and
shining. Silvery bands on the apical
margins of the abdominal segments become conspicuous in flight, under certain
lighting conditions when the wasp approaches nest. Forewings hyaline with darker apical
margins. Forewings with three submarginal cells, the second much smaller and petiolated. Veins
dark brown. The first recurrent vein
(1m-cu) received near the apex of the first submarginal
cell, aligning and apparently merging with the crossvein;
the second recurrent vein (2m-cu) received at the apex of the second submarginal cell merging with the crossvein
(Image 4). Facial details as shown in
Figure 2 are based on a composite image obtained using focus stacking
technique.
Comparison for identity confirmation
We
will now compare the forewing venation details with the description of other
workers to confirm identification of the species as Pison
punctifrons Shuckard.
Forewing
venation of Noida Pison Spinola species is closer to the description of Pison suspiciosus
Smith (a synonym of P. punctifrons Shuckard) as given by Smith (1858), “The first recurrent
nervure received at the apex of the first submarginal
cell; the second at the apex of the second submarginal”.
In
case of Noida Pison Spinola
species first recurrent vein is received “near the apex” (not “at the apex”),
however this difference needs to be viewed in the light of the descriptions
given by Shuckard (1838) for P. punctifrons and P. spinolae,
“…the recurrent nervures inosculating with the transverso-cubitals…”.
He further adds that “…this species at first sight much resembles
the P. spinolae Shuckard,
but, upon examination, it is at once distinguished by its very coarse
sculpture, and the size of its second submarginal
cell”.
Shuckard (1838) describes P. spinolae as follows, “… the petiolated
submarginal cell very minute, and receiving the two
recurrent nervures at the inosculating points of its transverse cubitals”. As per Shuckard, arrangement of recurrent veins is identical in P.
punctifrons and P. spinolae.
Forewing
venation of P. spinolae is shown in Figure 3
based on the illustration given by Harris (1994). The arrangement of recurrent veins of P. spinolae is exactly same as that of Noida Pison Spinola
species. First recurrent vein received
near the apex of the first submarginal cell and the
second recurrent vein received at the apex of the second submarginal
cell. This confirms the identification
of the wasp as P. punctifrons Shuckard.
Darker
apical margin of the forewing and arrangement of recurrent veins are sufficient
keys to differentiate P. punctifrons from other
Pison species of India with three submarginal cells.
In
case of P. argentatum the first recurrent vein
is received towards the apex of the first submarginal
cell, and the second recurrent vein received about the middle of the second submarginal cell (Shuckard 1838).
In
case of P. orientale Cameron, the recurrent
veins are received shortly in front of the transverse cubital (Cameron 1897).
In
case of P. rugosum Smith, the first recurrent
vein is received towards the apex of the first submarginal
cell, and the second recurrent vein received about the middle of the second submarginal cell (Smith 1856). This description of the forewing venation is
similar to that of P. argentatum and
additional features need to be included in the identification key.
Nest location and architecture
All
nests are located in absolutely sheltered positions away from the sun or rain;
in the semi-covered areas of the house which include verandah,
underside of the staircase, or courtyards.
Substrate of the nest is a plastered wall, wood or steel. Junction of two walls or a corner of the
junction of three walls (e.g., interior corner of a square niche in the wall);
grooves and cavities in the wooden windows are preferred locations. No nest is found in the middle of a smooth
wall or a ceiling unless a cracking plaster creates some sort of groove or
uneven surface.
Well
defined horizontal or vertical linear grooves in the wooden window panels are
often used as a nesting site. Raised
wooden beadings on doors and windows or putty around the glass panes also
provide similar junction of two surfaces and therefore offer good nest sites.
Nest
is a cluster of tiny mud cells. Three
types of nests were recorded in the study area:
Type
1 – Free standing nests which vaguely look like a small bunch of tiny grapes
(Image 5). Completed nest is fully
visible.
Type
2 – Nests inside pre-existing grooves.
In this case direction of the groove; whether horizontal or vertical
decides the progression of the nest and final nest looks quite linear in shape
(Image 6). Completed nest is partially
visible.
Type
3 – Nests inside holes or cavities in the wooden windows (Image 7). Completed nest is not easily visible.
All
three types of nests were found in close proximity to each other. Types 1 and 3 nests were attributed to Pison punctifrons
by identifying the adult wasps associated with these nests. Type 2 nests were attributed to the same wasp
on the basis of the pupal cases found in the cells which were identical to the
pupal cases found in Types 1 and 2 nests.
Individual cells of the Type 2 nest were also similar to the cells of
Types 1 and 3 nests.
Basic
unit of the nest is a fragile barrel shaped ½ mm thick mud cell, 9mm long with
an external diameter of 5mm in the middle and 3mm at both the ends. Though this is generally true for Type 1
nests, Type 2 nests built in pre-existing narrow grooves were found to be of
longer length. For example, two Type 2
nests built in 4 x 4 mm linear vertical groove in the wooden window were found
to be having longer cells. First nest
(Type 2) contained three cells of 12mm and one cell of 16mm (Image 6a,b). Second nest (Type 2) had two cells of 12mm
and one cell of 16mm.
The
substrate is not lined and thus becomes a part of the cell. Any cracks in the substrate are repaired by
filling them with mud. Two adjoining
cells built on the original substrate are independent and do not share a common
partition wall. Cell construction begins
from the bottom of the barrel and ends at the top 3mm opening which is closed
immediately after provisioning of the cell is completed and egg laid.
During
the study period (2015–2020), 21 nests were built in the study area. Details of these old inactive (and also active
nests under observation) were collected.
Nest type, substrate, height from the ground and number of cells for
each nest were recorded. Out of total 21
nests 10 were Type 2 (48%), eight Type 1 (38%), and three Type 3 (14%). Substrate for the 11 nests was cement plaster
(52%), eight were built on wood (38%), and one each on metal and glass putty
(5% each). All nests were located 1.2–3.35
m above the ground level. Frequency
distribution plot of number of cells vs number of nests is presented in Figure
4.
While
recording old nests in the study area, one cluster of mud cells was found just
inside a window latch hole, 15mm diameter and 20mm deep, in the top element of
a wooden window frame. This was a Type 3
nest (Image 7). It contained a cluster
of five mud cells. Architecture of this
partly hidden nest was discovered by sequentially breaking the nest cells using
a wooden toothpick and separately collecting the contents of each cell in a
dish. Breaking sequence followed
5-4-3-2-1. Pencil torch was used to
illuminate the interior portion of the cavity.
Mental images formed during the process were used to immediately draw
the rough sketch showing arrangement of the nest cells.
One
intact pupa was found in each of the two exterior cells (Cell 4 and 5). Three interior cells 1, 2, & 3, which
were fully or partly blocked by the two exterior cells returned perfectly
formed but dead adult wasps, one in each cell.
It is tentatively suggested that probably these adult wasps could never
find a passage to get out of the cells because of the obstruction created by
the exterior cells.
Active nest observations
On
08 May 2020 at 13.15h a Pison punctifrons wasp was spotted at the nest, building the
third cell of the nest. This was a Type
1 nest. At 13.30h the cell was
closed. Before closing the nest, the
wasp was seen inserting her abdomen inside the cell as if pushing the contents
to make room for more spiders. But we
soon realized that the wasp actually deposited the egg, as soon after, mud was
brought and the opening was sealed.
Immediately after sealing the cell she began building the 4th
cell from where she ended the last cell, i.e., from the end cap of the 3rd
cell. Construction of the 4th
cell began at 13.38h and the same was completed in 70 minutes. The wasp made 18 trips to bring the mud
pallets for this cell. Nineteenth, the
last visit to the nest was at 14.37h for the final inspection before
provisioning began. At 15.00h the first
spider was brought to the cell. At
15.40h we closed the field work for the day.
Next
day on 09 May 2020, she continued provisioning the same cell 4 and finally
closed it at 13.34h. The egg was most
probably laid at 13.00h. Immediately
after closing cell 4, construction of cell 5 began. At 16.45h when the field work ended for the
day, cell number 5 was still under construction.
Next
day on 10 May 2020 no activity was seen, the wasp did not visit the nest. Rains followed a dust storm at 11.45h. Fifth cell was still open and without any
spider. Weather remained cloudy for the
rest of the day and the wasp was never seen around the nest. Next day on 11 May 2020, the wasp did not
arrive at the nest till 13.30h and assuming that no more cells would be added,
we collected the contents of the last sealed cell 4 for examination leaving
behind sealed cells 1, 2, & 3. Empty
cell 5 also needed to be removed for this.
Wasps from cells 1, 2, & 3 emerged on 06 June 2020. Wasp from cell 3 was collected for
identification.
The building process
Cell
construction begins from the bottom of the barrel. Having laid the base, wall of the barrel is
raised in multiple segments. The wasp
precariously holds the substrate or previously laid segment of the barrel wall
to raise it further by depositing and spreading wet mud paste, brought in the
shape of a pallet. The wasp spends much
time inside the cell while construction is in progress and only occasionally
visits the outer surface for inspection.
Inside of the cell is rendered smooth while outside remains rough.
While
building nest cell the wasp produces high frequency sound by vibrating her
wings. Recorded sound frequencies ranged
4–11 kHz with maximum amplitude at 6072 Hz.
Starr
(2004) has described the nesting behaviour of P. argentatum
and also provided the photographs of the nest.
Type of free nests built by P. argentatum
are different in appearance from those built by Pison
punctifrons.
Nests of the P. rugosum as illustrated
by Horne (1870) are also different in appearance.
Observations about
the prey
Season I (03 September 2015–14 February
2016). The
wasp that was spotted on 03 September 2015 completed and sealed four cells by
05 September 2015. After completing the
fifth cell, except the top opening, she started bringing small spiders. It took her 10 minutes to 45 minutes to bring
one spider to the cell. At 19.30h (on 05
Sep 2015) the wasp was seen resting in the cell, head just protruding out of
the cell. Next day on 06 Sep 2015 at
08.00h the wasp was still in the cell, in the same position. At 22.30h also the cell was not yet
sealed. Next day on 07 September 2015
the wasp never visited the cell and it remained open. On 01 October 2015 exit holes were observed
on two of the cells.
On
14 February 2016 the nest built by this wasp was collected and its
contents examined. It had five
cells. Three cells were empty with exit
holes. One cell returned an intact pupal
case. Fifth, the last cell, the top most
one, was never sealed after provisioning.
It contained eight spiders belonging to three families, Oxyopidae: 2, Salticidae: 6, and Theridiidae: 1. It
appears that the wasp never completed the provisioning of the last cell nor
deposited any egg.
Season II (08 May 2020–11 May
2020)
Contents
of the last sealed cell 4 were collected on 10 May 2020 for
identification. This cell contained 11
small to very small spiders. Family
identification of these spiders is placed in Table 2. The wasp laid the egg dorso-laterally
on the abdomen of a crab spider (Thomisidae). See box 8b of Image 8.
Thomisids, the crab spiders, build no webs. They live on plants and foliage. Some species run swiftly and pursue their
prey while others wait in ambush inside or underneath a flower to attack and
catch the insects visiting the flower for nectar. Salticids, the jumping spiders also do not
build webs and actively pursue their prey on plants, foliage, logs, and other
substrata. Oxyopids are hunting spiders
of the plant and they chase their prey on grass and foliage. Most make little use of webs. Dictynids are very small cribellate orb
weavers and make irregular snares in the foliage. Uloborids are also cribellate spiders and
make complete or partial orb webs.
Spiders of the family Theridiidae build
irregular space webs. Going by the number
of spiders in a cell from different families (Table 2), it appears that P. punctifrons mostly takes prey from those families that
build no webs. This is similar to the
prey choices made by P. argentatum as
discovered by other workers (Starr 2004). However, a much larger prey database
is required to confirm the same.
CONCLUSION
Presence
of a little known wasp Pison punctifrons Shuckard in
Noida, Uttar Pradesh is established. The
nearest historical record is from Mussoorie in
Uttarakhand which is about 225km to the north.
This historical record from Mussoorie is about
125 years old, when Cameron described Pison
striolatum in the year 1896 from Mussoorie (Cameron 1896).
Pison striolatum
is presently considered to be a synonym of Pison
punctifrons.
Other historical records of the species from India are also equally
old. The last published record for India
is for the year 1989 from Kerala (Sudheendrakumar
1989). Because of limited information
available, present status or distribution pattern of Pison
punctifrons in India is not fully understood.
This
wasp builds free standing mud nests and also utilizes pre-existing grooves and
cavities. Number of cells per nest vary
from one to 16. We do not know what type
of nests are built by this wasp in the wild away from the human
settlements. Its choice of prey appears
to be small spiders mostly from the families that do not build webs; however,
more work on prey choices is required to fully understand the prey preferences
of this wasp.
Table 1. Pison
Spinola species in India as per Pulawski
(2015). Species with two sub-marginal
cells segregated as per Antropov (1994).
Pison Spinola
species with three sub-marginal cells: |
|||||
|
Name |
Authority |
Synonyms |
Authority |
Geographic Location |
1. |
P. argentatum |
Shuckard, 1838 |
P. fuscipalpe |
Cameron, 1901 |
Bombay, Bangalore |
2. |
P. fasciatum |
(Radoszkowski,
1876) |
|
|
India (?) |
3. |
P. orientale |
Cameron, 1897 |
|
|
Barrackpore |
4. |
P. punctifrons |
Shuckard, 1838 |
- P. suspiciosum P. striolatum |
- F. Smith, 1858 Cameron, 1897 |
Purnia, Kerala (no specific location) Barrackpore Mussoorie |
5. |
P. rugosum |
F. Smith, 1856 |
- Pisonitus rugosus P. appendiculatum |
- F. Smith, 1869 Cameron, 1897 |
Barrackpore |
Pison Spinola
species with two sub-marginal cells: |
|||||
6. |
P. agile |
(F. Smith, 1869) |
P. koreense |
|
Southern India, Sri Lanka |
7. |
P. differens |
R. Turner, 1916 |
|
|
Assam, Shillong |
8. |
P. erythropus |
Kohl, 1884 |
Parapison rufipes |
F. Smith, 1869 |
Uttar Pradesh: Mainpuri. |
9. |
P. obliteratum |
F. Smith, 1858 |
|
|
Kumaun, northern India |
10. |
P. pulawskii |
Antropov, 1994 |
|
|
Rajasthan: Udaipur |
11. |
P. rothneyi |
Cameron, 1897 |
P. crassicorne |
Cameron, 1897 |
Barrackpore |
Table 2.
Contents of a cell of Pison punctifrons Shuckard
|
Family |
No
of spiders |
1 |
Dictynidae |
1 |
2 |
Oxyopidae |
2 |
3 |
Salticidae |
1 |
4 |
Theridiidae |
1 |
5 |
Thomisidae |
4 |
6 |
Uloboridae |
1 |
7 |
Unidentified |
1 |
|
Total |
11 |
For
figures & images - - click here
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