What Does it Mean When a Wasps Abdominal Pulses During Respiration?

During respiration, the abdomen pulses as a result of an increasing amount of gas exchange between the body and the air sacs. These pulses are called respiration movements and are common in wasps.

The pulsing movement in the abdomen is often accompanied by other body movements. Wing-buzzing movements and leg movements often accompany abdominal pumping movements. This abdominal pumping is a longitudinal movement that stretch and contract the abdomen. This pumping movement may contribute to the discharge of tracheas. It is considered a signal directed to other adult females.

The abdomen pulses during respiration as a result of an increasing amount of carbon dioxide being released by the wasp. This increased gas exchange rate is a result of the exponential increase in respiration frequency. In addition, the duration of the abdominal ventilation movements depends on the temperature and the resting metabolic rate of the wasp.

The wasps had a wide temperature range of 2.9 to 42.4 degC. This temperature range was sufficient to enable wasps to survive. However, wasps did not show an increase in CO2 emission when the temperature increased. The respiration cycle frequency was cyclic and showed an interburst-burst pattern at low temperatures. In addition, the duration of the cycle and the resting metabolic rate were similar to the cycle duration and RMR.

The wasps showed typical discontinuous gas exchange patterns at high temperatures. The open phases consisted of amplitude diminishing peaks at Tas of 6-16 degC. These open phases were merged with flutter phases to create representative CO2 release phases.