Caste differences and related bionomic aspects of Chartergellus communis, a neotropical swarm-founding polistine wasp (Hymenoptera : Vespidae : Polistinae : Epiponini)

Five colonies of Chartergellus communis, a Neotropical swarm-founding socia l wasp, were analyzed in order to determine morphological differences betwe en queens and workers. Although castes could be differentiated by color pat terns, morphological differences were practically absent in three out of th e five colonies. In the two other colonies, we found queens smaller than wo rkers in all the five measured characters in one colony while in the other queens were larger than workers in the same five characters. The importance of such caste variation according to colony is discussed. Colonies contain ed a large variety of individuals with different kinds of ovarian developme nt, including intermediates between queens and workers. The occurrence of s uch intermediate females and their role in different wasp taxa is discussed .