Spider Prey of Two Mud Dauber Wasps (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) Nesting in Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp 1 Tatiana Volkova, Robert W. Matthews 2 and M. Craig Barber 3 Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602 USA J. Entomol. Sci. 34(3): 322-327 (July 1999) Abstract Spiders captured by Trypoxylon politum (Say) and Sceliphron caementarium (Drury) in Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp over two nesting seasons represented 5 families and 22 genera (n = 5191). A strong bias for female spiders exists in both species (89.5% of all prey), with immature females comprising nearly half of these (42.6%). Comparison of contemporane- ously taken prey at the same site by T. politum using typical mud organ pipe nests or trap nests revealed that the same araneid species of Neoscona and Eustala predominated. However, spiders provisioned in trap nests were more diverse taxonomically, including the first records of Mimetidae and Salticidae as prey for this wasp, as well as a variety of other araneid genera. Seasonal changes in prey composition revealed no particular patterns or correlations with nest type. Sceliphron caementarium displayed a strong preference for araneid spiders, with N. ara- besca comprising 53.8% of the total; Thomisidae comprised 10.5%, nearly all Misumenops oblongus. Key Words Trypoxylon politum, Sceliphron caementarium, Araneidae, Neoscona, Eustala, Mimetidae, Salticidae, trap nest. Three mud dauber wasp species are common in the southeastern United States: Trypoxylon politum (Say), Sceliphron caementarium (Drury), and Chalybion califor- nicum (Saussure). All three species often occupy the same habitat and have super- ficially similar nesting behaviors in that their eggs are laid in mud cells provisioned with paralyzed spiders. The biology of these wasps is well studied (summarized in Bohart and Menke 1976), and their provisioning habits also have been documented from various localities (Rau 1935, Muma and Jeffers 1945, Dorris 1970, Cross et al. 1975, Horner and Klein 1979, Rehnberg 1987, Landes et al. 1987, Dean et al. 1988). Based on the studies of Muma and Jeffers (1945), Rehnberg (1987), and others, each of these species normally provisions spiders of particular families and genera in characteristic proportions. Both regional variation (see summaries in Rehnberg 1987, Dean et al. 1988) and seasonal variation (Muma and Jeffers 1945, Rehnberg 1987) in provisioning have been documented. Such variation probably reflects the complex relationships between predator preferences and prey availability at particular locali- ties. This study provides data on prey composition and its seasonal changes from the 1 Received 21 August 1998; accepted for publication 08 November 1998. 2 For reprints of this article contact Robert W. Matthews. 3 Present address: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 960 College Station Rd., Athens, GA 30604. 322 Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/jes/article-pdf/34/3/322/1562597/0749-8004-34_3_322.pdf by guest on 16 May 2023