Evolution of nesting behaviour based on molecular phylogenetics and its implication in communal nesting in spider wasps (Hymenoptera, Pompilidae)

ABSTRACT

A molecular phylogeny of Ageniellini (Pompilidae: Pepsinae) was constructed from Bayesian and maximum likelihood analyses of ultraconserved elements (UCEs), and ancestral states of nesting and reproductive behaviour were reconstructed in the phylogeny. From these analyses, the evolution of nest construction behaviour is inferred in this tribe. Aerial mud nest building behaviour evolved from subterranean nesting behaviour in an ancestor of the subtribe Auplopodina. The results are compared with those of previous studies. The evolution of primitive sociality in Pompilidae is discussed, with special reference to factors important in promoting the evolution of communal behaviour.

Shimizu, A., Sadler-Pitts, E., Yoshimura, J., Kurczewski, F. E., & Pitts, J. P. (2025). Evolution of nesting behaviour based on molecular phylogenetics and its implication in communal nesting in spider wasps (Hymenoptera, Pompilidae). Journal of Natural History, 59(33–36), 2217–2234. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2025.2535446