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Comparison of thermal traits of Polistes dominula and Polistes gallicus, two European paper wasps with strongly differing distribution ranges

The two paper wasps, Polistes dominula and Polistes gallicus, are related species with strongly differing distribution ranges. We investigated thermal tolerance traits (critical thermal limits and metabolic response to temperature) to gain knowledge about physiological adaptations to their local cli...

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Autores principales: Kovac, Helmut, Käfer, Helmut, Petrocelli, Iacopo, Stabentheiner, Anton
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2016
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5253161/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27744515
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00360-016-1041-x
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author Kovac, Helmut
Käfer, Helmut
Petrocelli, Iacopo
Stabentheiner, Anton
author_facet Kovac, Helmut
Käfer, Helmut
Petrocelli, Iacopo
Stabentheiner, Anton
author_sort Kovac, Helmut
collection PubMed
description The two paper wasps, Polistes dominula and Polistes gallicus, are related species with strongly differing distribution ranges. We investigated thermal tolerance traits (critical thermal limits and metabolic response to temperature) to gain knowledge about physiological adaptations to their local climate conditions and to get evidence for the reasons of P. dominula’s successful dispersion. Body and ambient temperature measurements at the nests revealed behavioural adaptations to microclimate. The species differed clearly in critical thermal minimum (P. dominula −1.4 °C, P. gallicus −0.4 °C), but not significantly in critical thermal maximum of activity (P. dominula 47.1 °C, P. gallicus 47.6 °C). The metabolic response did not reveal clear adaptations to climate conditions. At low and high temperatures, the metabolic rate of P. dominula was higher, and at intermediate temperatures, we determined higher values in P. gallicus. However, the species exhibited remarkably differing thermoregulatory behaviour at the nest. On average, P. gallicus tolerated a thoracic temperature up to ~41 °C, whereas P. dominula already tried at ~37 °C to keep the thorax below ambient temperature. We suggest this to be an adaptation to the higher mean ambient temperature we measured at the nest during a breeding season. Although we determined for P. dominula a 0.5 °C larger thermal tolerance range, we do not presume this parameter to be solely responsible for the successful distribution of P. dominula. Additional factors, such as the thermal tolerance of the queens could limit the overwintering success of P. gallicus in a harsher climate.
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spelling pubmed-52531612017-02-03 Comparison of thermal traits of Polistes dominula and Polistes gallicus, two European paper wasps with strongly differing distribution ranges Kovac, Helmut Käfer, Helmut Petrocelli, Iacopo Stabentheiner, Anton J Comp Physiol B Original Paper The two paper wasps, Polistes dominula and Polistes gallicus, are related species with strongly differing distribution ranges. We investigated thermal tolerance traits (critical thermal limits and metabolic response to temperature) to gain knowledge about physiological adaptations to their local climate conditions and to get evidence for the reasons of P. dominula’s successful dispersion. Body and ambient temperature measurements at the nests revealed behavioural adaptations to microclimate. The species differed clearly in critical thermal minimum (P. dominula −1.4 °C, P. gallicus −0.4 °C), but not significantly in critical thermal maximum of activity (P. dominula 47.1 °C, P. gallicus 47.6 °C). The metabolic response did not reveal clear adaptations to climate conditions. At low and high temperatures, the metabolic rate of P. dominula was higher, and at intermediate temperatures, we determined higher values in P. gallicus. However, the species exhibited remarkably differing thermoregulatory behaviour at the nest. On average, P. gallicus tolerated a thoracic temperature up to ~41 °C, whereas P. dominula already tried at ~37 °C to keep the thorax below ambient temperature. We suggest this to be an adaptation to the higher mean ambient temperature we measured at the nest during a breeding season. Although we determined for P. dominula a 0.5 °C larger thermal tolerance range, we do not presume this parameter to be solely responsible for the successful distribution of P. dominula. Additional factors, such as the thermal tolerance of the queens could limit the overwintering success of P. gallicus in a harsher climate. Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2016-10-15 2017 /pmc/articles/PMC5253161/ /pubmed/27744515 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00360-016-1041-x Text en © The Author(s) 2016 Open AccessThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
spellingShingle Original Paper
Kovac, Helmut
Käfer, Helmut
Petrocelli, Iacopo
Stabentheiner, Anton
Comparison of thermal traits of Polistes dominula and Polistes gallicus, two European paper wasps with strongly differing distribution ranges
title Comparison of thermal traits of Polistes dominula and Polistes gallicus, two European paper wasps with strongly differing distribution ranges
title_full Comparison of thermal traits of Polistes dominula and Polistes gallicus, two European paper wasps with strongly differing distribution ranges
title_fullStr Comparison of thermal traits of Polistes dominula and Polistes gallicus, two European paper wasps with strongly differing distribution ranges
title_full_unstemmed Comparison of thermal traits of Polistes dominula and Polistes gallicus, two European paper wasps with strongly differing distribution ranges
title_short Comparison of thermal traits of Polistes dominula and Polistes gallicus, two European paper wasps with strongly differing distribution ranges
title_sort comparison of thermal traits of polistes dominula and polistes gallicus, two european paper wasps with strongly differing distribution ranges
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5253161/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27744515
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00360-016-1041-x
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