Host nest preference and nest choice in the cuckoo paper wasp Polistes sulcifer (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

Polistes sulcifer is a cuckoo paper wasps, an obligate social parasite which must usurp a colony of another species in order to reproduce. Field data show that P. sulcifer females usurp exclusively nests belonging to one species only (P. dominulus). Moreover, they are more frequently found on large and pupa-rich nests. A series of laboratory trials, in which parasite females were offered a binary choice of nests with different characteristics, confirm both the species specificity between P. sulcifer and P. dominulus and the parasite's preference to usurp larger nests containing pupae. The data support the hypothesis that P. sulcifer females choose between available nests. The biological meaning of these findings is discussed.