Uninvited Guests: Identifying Parasites and Other Nest Associates of Solitary Bees and Wasps Using Artificial Nest Sites in North Central Florida

Abstract

Stored food and developing brood are attractive to parasitic arthropod invaders that exploit the industry of solitary hymenopterans. In this study, we collected and identified arthropod invaders of artificial nest sites designed for and used by solitary bees and wasps (Hymenoptera: Apoidea and Vespoidea). We collected parasitic arthropods emerging from the nests weekly for 3 years. We plotted annual nesting and emergence data for each species that invaded >10 bee/wasp nests and present the yearly/seasonal nesting trends for each parasite species. In total, arthropod invaders emerged from 265 or 15% of the viable bee-or wasp-constructed nests (n = 1765). Of the 265 parasitized nests, 6 (2.3%) were parasitized by mites, 14 (5.2%) were parasitized by bees, 20 (7.5%) were parasitized by beetles, 86 (32.5%) were parasitized by flies, and 139 (52.4%) were parasitized by wasps. These results provide a baseline for future comparisons of the parasitism rates of nests made by tunnelnesting, solitary bees and wasps in north central Florida.