. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. Zoology. Social Biology of Mischocyttarvs drewseni • Jeanne. Figure 2. Mouthing: application of nest construction secretion. The wasp on the left is applying secretion to the nest stem itself, anci the wasp on the right is mouthing the point of attachment of the stem to the comb. In this manner the nest support is strengthened as the nest grows and gains in weight. This is also practiced b\ M. lecointei, M. coUaveUus, and, according to Vesey-Fitz- gerald (1938), by M. surinamensis. This has at least tsvo effects: 1) it ser\es
. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. Zoology. Social Biology of Mischocyttarvs drewseni • Jeanne. Figure 2. Mouthing: application of nest construction secretion. The wasp on the left is applying secretion to the nest stem itself, anci the wasp on the right is mouthing the point of attachment of the stem to the comb. In this manner the nest support is strengthened as the nest grows and gains in weight. This is also practiced b\ M. lecointei, M. coUaveUus, and, according to Vesey-Fitz- gerald (1938), by M. surinamensis. This has at least tsvo effects: 1) it ser\es to stiffen the delicate silk cap, making it less susceptible to damage as the adults move about over the nest face, and 2) it serves to camouflage the bright white of the silk, making the nest a more uniform color and less conspicuous from below. Certain other species of Mischocyttanis (, M. injucundus and M. fitzgeraldi) do not do this, but apparently apply the nest construction secretion to the caps. This has the same two effects as the appli- cation of pulp. 11. Mouthing As the nest increases in size the nest stem is continually thickened by repeated applications of the nest construction se- cretion. A wasp climbs the nest stem and "mouths" the base of attachment, using a licking movement of her mouthparts, then she slowly works her way backward down the stem until the top of the nest is reached (Fig. 2). This is repeated for up to 30 minutes at a time. The secretion hardens into a tough, plasticlike material. The stem from a large nest, when cut transversely, is seen to consist of many extremely thin con- centric layers of this material surrounding the original pulp core. These layers can. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Harvard University. Museum of Comparative Zoology. C
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