Nest Structure and Social Behavior of Liostenogaster vechti (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)

A small cluster of Liostenogaster vechti nests was studied at the Pasoh Nature Reserve in Malaysia. Nests were built on the underside of the corrugated zinc roof of an open shed. They lacked a petiole and an envelope, were made of pulp, and were directly attached to the substrate without a layer of pulp along the substrate surface. Adult population was from one to five per nest, all females with nearly the same body size. Dominance-subordination behavior was observed five times among three wasps on a nest during a 2-hr. observation. The dominant wasp had well developed ovaries, produced an abdominal substance, and never left the nest, whereas the two subordinates had less developed ovaries, left the nest and sometimes returned with nest materials. From the above observations, the social life of this species can be described as very primitively eusocial.