Dangerous prey: a case of cannibalism between workers of Polistes jokahamae (Hymenoptera: Vespidae, Polistinae)

Abstract

Workers of paper wasps (Polistinae) typically hunt insects, such as caterpillars, to provision their larvae and rarely attack conspecific workers when foraging. In an urban park in central Japan, a worker of Polistes jokahamae Radoszkowski, 1887 was observed disarticulating the body of a conspecific worker. This observation represents a rare case of cannibalism between workers in paper wasps.