My interactions with flora and fauna: Metaphors about running a small rural school (original) (raw)
A mimetic nesting association between a timid social wasp and an aggressive arboreal ant
Comptes Rendus Biologies, 2018
In French Guiana, the arboreal nests of the swarm-founding social wasp Protopolybia emortualis (Polistinae) are generally found near those of the arboreal dolichoderine ant Dolichoderus bidens. These wasp nests are typically protected by an envelope, which in turn is covered by an additional carton ‘shelter’ with structure resembling the D. bidens nests. A few wasps constantly guard their nest to keep D. bidens workers from approaching. When alarmed by a strong disturbance, the ants invade the host tree foliage whereas the wasps retreat into their nest. Notably, there is no chemical convergence in the cuticular profiles of the wasps and ants sharing a tree. The aggressiveness of D. bidens likely protects the wasps from army ant raids, but the ants do not benefit from the presence of the wasps; therefore, this relationship corresponds to a kind of commensalism.
Rka phug Rdo rje don grub and CK Stuart. 2014. Farmers, Fugitives, Ghosts, and Exploding Grasshoppers: Everyday Life in Horse Race Village, a Tibetan Community on the Yellow River. Asian Highlands Perspectives 33. Rta rgyugs (Dajiu tan) is a natural farming village that is part of Rka phug (Gabu) Administrative Village, northwest of Khams ra (Kanbula) Town, Gcan tsha (Jianzha) County, Rma lho (Huangnan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Mtsho sngon (Qinghai) Province, PR China. Other aspects of the community are presented in terms of history, education, housing, eating, sleeping, archery, religion, livelihood, sources of cash income, stories, folktales, and photographs