Patterns of prey use in four sympatric species ofPhilanthus(Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) with a review of prey selection in the genus

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Abstract
Observations were made on 4 sympatric species of sphecid wasps of the genus Philanthus that nest in late summer and prey upon Hymenoptera [P. barbiger, P. inversus, P. basilaris and P. bicinctus]. All 4 spp. nest in a restricted locale, but with little overlap in nesting areas. Comparison of nest contents of females demonstrated limited overlap in prey utilization among the 4 spp., but only when both size and taxonomic category of prey were considered. The ultimate cause of this resource partitioning is unknown. Review of 30 populaitons of 16 spp. of North American Philanthus reveals varying degrees of specialization on prey types. Although populations of 1 sp., separated in either time or space, tend to have similar niche breadths, this is not always the case. Intra- and inter-populational comparisons of prey records suggest behavioral plasticity allowing response to variations in prey availability. Some of the divergence in prey use among species is due to differences in predator size.