The Pollen Wasps: Ecology and Natural History of the Masarinae by Gess, S.K - 1996

Harvard University Press, 1996. xii, 340, 25 col photos, 60 b/w illus. . HB. Fine in d/w.. Wasps of the family Masarinae are sometimes called "pollen wasps" because they are the only wasps that - like bees - provision their nest cells with pollen and nectar. Numbering a little over 300 known species, they favour regions of the world with hot, dry climates and scrubby vegetation, and are especially plentiful and diverse in southern Africa, where Sarah K. Gess has made the study of aculeate Hymenoptera, including these insects, her life's work. The product of more than 20 years of study and field experience, "The Pollen Wasps" is the first work on masarine wasps since O.W. Richards's 1962 monograph. It gathers in a single volume current data on all that is known about the masarines: their biogeography, life history, nest-building behaviour, myriad flower associations, and associated insects and other microfauna (parasites, scavengers, nest "cuckoos" and predators). On the basis of her field observations of five plant families and 92 species of pollen wasps, Gess examines the role of these insects as potential pollinators of their forage plants in southern Africa. She also considers trends in land use in this part of the world and evaluates their impact on pollen wasp biodiversity. The illustrations offer readers a close look at this little-known and endangered group of insects. Three appendices list all known flower-visiting records, all hymenopteran visitors to the flowers included in the pollination chapter, and all published species names for Masarinae. Pollen wasps are of interest to a wide range of scholars (including entomologists, ethologists, ecologists and evolutionary biologists) because of their close associations with flowering plants and because of the ability of certain species to produce silk for nest building - an intriguing case of convergent evolution. For these readers, and for students of natural history and proponents of species preservation, "The Pollen Wasps" should prove a useful resource.. [9780674689640]