BIOLOGY OF POLISTES ANNULARIS 
(HYMENOPTERA: VESPIDAE) 
I. SPRING BEHAVIOR 
By Henry R. Hermann 1 and Tobias F. Dirks 2 
Although the social biology of several polistine wasps has been 
discussed in considerable detail by Bequaert (1923), Eberhard 
(1969), Evans and Eberhard (1970), Isely (1922), Pardi (1948), 
Rabb (i960), Rau (1931, 1933, 1939) and Spieth (1947), rela- 
tively little has been reported on Polistes annularis L. (Rau, 1940). 
P. annularis is the most common paper wasp around the Athens 
area. It is pleometrotic ( =polygynic=cooperative cofounding) 
(Bequaert, 1923; Rau, 1940; Reuter, 1913; Wasmann, 1910) in 
its behavior and in being such is an excellent subject for the study 
of dominance reactions in social insects. 
We began our studies on this species in the spring of 1970, and 
we collected detailed information on all of the life stages and sea- 
sonal activity through June of 1971. Additional data was collected 
on occasion through the active season of 1974. Our findings differ 
in some respects from those of Rau (1940), who studied P. annu- 
laris in the midwest, and Rabb (1970), who investigated polistine 
species in the Raleigh, N. C., area. The predominant polistine spe- 
cies in Rabb’s area were P. exclamans and P. fuscatus. 
Because we have collected a considerable amount of information, 
we have decided to consider each phase of the seasonal history of 
P. annularis separately and publish this information in series form. 
The serial reports will be three in number, dealing with behavioral 
periods of the 1) Spring, 2) Summer and 3) Fall-Winter-Spring. 
The present report, the first of the series, deals with Spring behavior. 
We previously reported on the anatomy and function of the venom 
apparatus and sternal glands in this and other vespid species (Her- 
mann and Dirks, 1974; Hermann and Krispyn, 1975; Hunt and 
Hermann, 1970) and on the cohibernation of five polistine species 
(Hermann, Gerling and Dirks, 1974). 
department of Entomology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia., 
30602 
department of Biology, Dalton Junior College, Dalton, Georgia, 30720 
Manuscript received by the editor March 3 , 1975 
97 
