Title:
Reproduction and recruitment in perennial Vespula squamosa yellowjacket was colonies
Reproduction and recruitment in perennial Vespula squamosa yellowjacket was colonies
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Crossley, Henry G.
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Abstract
Many people are all too familiar with social wasps of the genus Vespula, more commonly known as yellowjackets. What many people may not know is that recently, the nesting behavior of these wasps has begun to shift from a yearly cycle to a prolonged multiyear state. These perennial nests are becoming more and more common in areas with warmer climates. Using repetitive sequences of DNA known as microsatellites, allele frequencies, and strategies such as PCR, gel electrophoresis, and fragment sequencing, we worked to genotype eight perennial southern yellow jacket, Vespula squamosa, colonies from Auburn, Alabama to get a better understanding of the reproductive and genetic structure in these colonies. We then compared our data to that of annual colonies of the same species. We found that the relatedness is lower in perennial colonies than in annual colonies, and there is evidence in the genetic structure showing that perennial colonies contain more than one reproductive queen.
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2022-05
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Undergraduate Thesis