Occupation of Chartergellus communis Richards, 1978 (Vespidae, Polistinae) nest by Nasutitermes unduliceps Mathews, 1977 (Termitidae, Nasutitermitinae)

Abstract

Epiponini (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae) species typically construct their nests with an external envelope, which providesprotection against predators and the weather, as in Chartergellus communis. For this reason, these nests, when abandoned, are reused by different orders of insects, although until now there had been only a single record involving termites (Blattodea, Termitidae). This study adds information on the reuse of social wasp nests by Termitidae. The record was made in a building next to a gallery forest, a Cerrado phytophysiognomy, in the Parque Nacional Grande Sertão Veredas. The nest still had a protective envelope and the cells of the first comb were blocked by stercoral material, which suggests that the C. communis nest was being used as a satellite nest by termites. This reuse of abandoned wasps’ nests as satellite nests may be frequent in the Cerrado, so we suggest that more observations need to be made to validate this hypothesis, as well as answer an important question: do termites invade the nests of social wasps that are still active, or do they just reuse those that have already been abandoned?