COLONY COMPOSITION IN FOUR SPECIES OF 
POLISTINAE FROM SURINAME, WITH A DESCRIPTION 
OF THE LARVA OF BRACHYGASTRA SCUTELLARIS 
(HYMENOPTERA: VESPIDAE) 
By James M. Carpenter* and Kenneth G. Ross** 
Introduction 
Knowledge of the social structure in colonies of tropical Polisti- 
nae remains fragmentary. Since the pioneering studies of Richards 
and Richards (1951), capture and dissection of the adult population 
of a nest has been the primary method for reconstruction of the 
caste composition of a species. As the reviews of Jeanne (1980) and 
Akre (1982) document, long-term observational studies are increas- 
ingly contributing to behavioral analysis in this group. Yet the pre- 
vailing view of social structure in swarm-founding Polistinae is still 
largely based upon limited studies of a few species. Indeed, most of 
the species studied by Richards and Richards (1951) have not been 
re-examined. 
While participating in the Second Cornell Suriname Expedition, 
the senior author collected five colonies of three of the species stud- 
ied by Richards and Richards (1951), and one species studied by 
Richards (1978). Dissection of the specimens revealed certain dis- 
crepancies with the published accounts of colony composition for 
these species, as well as new information. These results are presented 
below, together with descriptive notes on the nests. The larvae of 
Polybia bistriata, P. catillifex and Metapolybia cingulata have been 
described by Reid (1942). He also described the larva of a Brachy - 
gastra species, termed by him Nectarinia scut el laris. However, 
Richards (1978: 166) stated that the nests he had obtained in 
Guyana, upon which Reid based his work, were actually those of the 
species myersi. The larva of B. scutellaris has thus never been de- 
scribed. A description is included in this paper. 
*Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 
02138. 
**Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602 
Manuscript received by the editor May 11, 1984. 
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