Yellow jackets (Vespula vulgaris) as a second seed disperser for the myrmecochorous plant, Trillium ovatum

Fleshy appendages attached to seeds (elaiosomes) can aid in seed dispersal by ants. This mode of dispersal (myrmecochory) occurs in over 3000 species in 70 different plant families and is found on every continent except Antarctica. I have observed that a vespid wasp (the common yellow jacket Vespula vulgaris) forages for the seeds of the elaiosome-bearing plant Trillium ovatum in Oregon and returns to the nest with seeds and attached elaiosomes. Yellow jackets consume elaiosomes but not seeds, thus this event represents effective seed dispersal. Upon inquiry, it was learned that similar observations have been made for T-ovatum in California and the UK, for Vancouveria hexandra in Washington state. Given the ubiquity of yellow jackets, seed dispersal by yellow jackets (here termed ''vespicochory'') quite likely occurs in other elaiosome-bearing plants. Yellow jackets forage for much greater distances than ants, and therefore they will influence both the dispersal ability of plants and the genetic and demographic structure of populations.