Adaptations and responses of dasymutilla occidentalis (hymenoptera: mutillidae) to predators
1977
The mutillid wasp Dasymutilla occidentalis possesses several adaptations and exhibits a number of responses which appear to be of defensive value: a long mobile sting with powerful venom; a strong, rounded and slippery cuticle; an ability to run very rapidly and evasively; an aposematic warning coloration pattern; and the ability to respond to an attack by making stridulatory sounds and by releasing a chemical secretion or both. The effectiveness of these defenses is supported by tests utilizing various vertebrate and arthropod predators. The raison d'être of the multiple lines of defense possessed by D. occidentalis and the relative value of each line of defense are discussed. It is postulated that aposematic coloration, audible stridulation, and a volatile defensive exudate all function primarily as part of an early warning system enabling a predator to recognize this wasp - with its very algogenic venom - as unpalatable and potentially dangerous.
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