Effects of Castration in Insects 



389 



There is also a modification of behavior in stylopized Polistes. 

 Several observers have noticed that such individuals are more 

 sluggish, that they fly about less actively, and Brues ('03) has 

 found that they are less inclined to use their sting, probably 

 because the voluminous parasites interfere with the exsertion of 

 this organ. A similar inability is observed in queen honey-bees 

 with ripe ovaries and in worker honey-bees with their crops full 

 of honey. The peculiarities of behavior in stylopized wasps are 

 such as would be expected in parasitized organisms for these al- 

 most invariably exhibit a general reduction of vitality due to 

 malnutrition. 



Fig. 2 Abnormal abdomens of Polistes metrica; A and B, dorsal; C, ventral; L>, lateral view. 



Among the unstylopized female Polistes taken at Colebrook 

 there were three specimens with abnormal abdomens. Sketches 

 of these are shown in Fig. 2. The segments in some cases were 

 partially divided on either the right or left side, and in one case 

 there were several supernumerary sclerites. It might be inferred 

 that these abnormalities were the result of stylopization, for 

 although no Xenos were found in the specimens, these parasites 

 may have been present in the larvae from which the anomalous 

 individuals developed. I doubt this, however. At any rate, the 

 anomaly in question is not peculiar to wasps that are subject to 



