Foraging Patterns of Two Sympatric Wasp Species: The Worldwide Invasive Polistes dominula and the Native Hypodynerus...

Invasive insects pose significant ecological challenges due to their interactions with other species, which can have a considerable impact on pre-existent ecosystems. In the present study, we analysed the foraging behaviour of the invasive Polistes dominula, which was first detected in NW Patagonia in 2003, and the native wasp Hypodynerus labiatus. We evaluated their foraging behaviour in two types of environments: closed habitats with dense vegetation and open habitats without surrounding bushes and trees. Additionally, we recorded the wasps' feeding choices at three different heights within each context. Our results showed that these sympatric wasps prefer to forage in different environments and in distinct microsite strata within each environment. Polistes dominula collected food from the ground level in both open and closed habitats, while H. labiatus was more frequently observed in closed areas, gathering resources from higher strata. The observed differences suggest that the collecting sites showed minimal overlap, which may facilitate their coexistence. These findings shed new light on the behavioural processes and interspecific interactions between a highly invasive wasp and a poorly studied native species that inhabit urban and semi urban environments in Patagonia.