1983] 
Ross & Visscher — Polygynous Vespula 
185 
Table 2 — Number of capped brood and captured adults of each caste in perennial 
V. macuUfrons colony (percentages in parentheses). Values for adults and capped 
brood in small cells are estimates, those for capped brood in large cells are counts. 
Queens 
Males 
Workers 
Total 
Capped brood 
large cells 
small cells 
49 (69.6) 
21 (30.4) 
10,454 (53.9) 
8,941 (46.1) 
70(100) 
19,395 (100) 
Adults 
23 (0.2) 
3,044 (25.8) 
8,749 (74.0) 
11,816(100) 
We dissected 100 workers chosen at random. While 74% of the 
workers exhibited no ovarian development, 12% had moderately 
developed ovaries, and 14% had well developed ovaries. 
Discussion 
Although this is the first record of such a nest for V. macuUfrons, 
the nest size and number of inhabitants are typical for polygynous, 
perennial colonies of other Paravespula species (Ross & Matthews, 
1982; Spradbery, 1973a; Edwards, 1980). In contrast, annual colo- 
nies of V. macuUfrons from northern Georgia and western North 
Carolina average 6,104 small cells and 2,551 large cells at their 
greatest development (MacDonald & Matthews, 1981). The peren- 
nial V. macuUfrons colony, while containing fewer large cells, had 
more than 16 times as many small cells as average conspecific 
annual nests. Perennial nests of V. germanica (F.) from Tasmania 
and New Zealand are reported to contain up to 180 combs and four 
million cells (Thomas, 1960; Spradbery, 1973b). The study colony 
also contained almost twice as many adult workers as the most 
populous conspecific annual colony studied by MacDonald & 
Matthews (1981). 
The prodigious size of perennial, polygynous Vespula colonies 
does not result simply from the cumulative effects of two seasons of 
growth. The pre-existing nest structure and worker force presum- 
ably support a rate of production by each of the colony’s queens 
early in the season attained only much later by annual colonies. In 
addition, newly recruited queens in such a colony avoid the inherent 
risks of haplometrotic colony founding, such as predation while 
foraging and early colony failure (Archer, 1980). 
