Date of Award:

8-2024

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Biology

Committee Chair(s)

James P. Pitts

Committee

James P. Pitts

Committee

Michael Branstetter

Committee

Carol von Dohlen

Committee

Joseph Wilson

Committee

Molly B. Cannon

Abstract

Entomology collections hold an untapped wealth of information, from insect morphology, genetics, locality and association data, and potential for use in education. Especially with insects that generate initial fears, such as wasps, seeing insect specimens provides a safe environment to learn about their behaviors. Wasps are insects in the order Hymenoptera, along with ants and bees. The public may hold fears against wasps, due to their negative portrayal in various media, but they serve as integral components of a functional ecosystem. Even with their importance, many groups of wasps are still highly understudies. This dissertation aims to tackle this fear by first understanding one group of wasps known as the spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae). The females of this wasp family hunt and lay an egg on the outside of a single spider's abdomen. The process by which the females hunt for and subdue their spider hosts, and how they construct a burrow for their young to develop highly varies within this family of wasps.

Chapters 2 and 3 deal with a single genus, Minagenia, which are very small spider wasps known to temporarily paralyze their spider hosts. These chapters determine how this genus became global via long-distance wind dispersals from Madagascar and describe a new species and new country record in Australia. Chapter 4 tests how this temporary paralysis, and the many other behaviors, evolved within the family Pompilidae by using genetic data and morphology to understand behavioral evolution. Compared to a previous ethocline hypothesis, the new analysis shows that behavior is highly plastic within the family, with many transitions back and forth between behavioral patterns. Chapter 5 presents a case study on how a traveling exhibit can influence and alter the general public's opinions on wasps. Most exhibit visitors expressed that they learned useful information while still holding a general fear, but more respect, for wasps.

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