Different trophic positions among social vespid species revealed by stable isotopes

• Published in: Royal Society open science Vol. 8; no. 5; p. 210472
• Main Authors: Torniainen, Jyrki, Komonen, Atte
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England The Royal Society 19.05.2021
• Subjects: carbon; Dolichovespula; Ecology, Conservation, and Global Change Biology; insect; nitrogen; trophic position; Vespula; insect; Vespula; Dolichovespula; trophic position; carbon; nitrogen
• ISSN: 2054-5703; 2054-5703
• DOI: 10.1098/rsos.210472

The social vespid wasps are common insect predators and several species behave in unison in the same biotopes. It is commonly accepted that social wasps are mainly opportunistic generalist predators without differences in prey selection and hence they compete for the same food resources. Trophic positions of six vespid wasp species and their potential prey from four sites in Finland and one in the UK were evaluated using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes (δ C and δ N). The difference in isotope values indicated different trophic positions among species. In general, spp. showed higher δ N values than spp., which suggests that forage on higher trophic levels. (Retzius, 1783) showed the highest δ N values, whereas showed the lowest. partly expresses apex predator-like δ N values, whereas species tend to forage on primary consumers. The largest species (Linnaeus, 1758) showed also similar δ N values as spp. However, δ C and δ N values of workers varied slightly during the season. This study offers novel insights about the trophic segregation in the social wasp community, suggesting specialization in diet resource utilization, especially between and .