A POLYGYNOUS NEST OF VESPULA-PENSYLVANICA FROM CALIFORNIA WITH A DISCUSSION OF POSSIBLE FACTORS INFLUENCING THE EVOLUTION OF POLYGYNY IN VESPULA

A thriving, polygynous, and probably overwintered colony of the wester n yellowjacket, Vespula pensylvanica, was collected on 2 November 1994 in Riverside, southern California, and examined in detail. The colony had 14 combs, of combined area 1.30 m(2) containing 55,704 small and 10,266 large cells. There were 17 functional, physogastric queens, 70 newly emerged non-reproductive queens, 7300 adult workers, 685 adult m ales, and c. 17,600 capped cells containing pupae or fully-fed larvae. Dissections of 200 workers showed that none had well-developed ovarie s. Hypotheses for the rarity of polygyny in Vespula are put forward an d evaluated.