The Vespidae ("paper wasps") are a family of extraordinarily diverse social insects that construct nests with varied and intricate architecture. The social behavior of this tropical group has been studied intensively, but only a fraction of the many species known have been described and classified. Dr. James Carpenter will be amassing a database of adult, larval, and nest characteristics from species in tropical Central and South America, Africa, and southeast Asia. These data will be incorporated into an analysis of the evolutionary relationships of these diverse species and genera. The proposed research will find a wide audience among entomologists, ecologists, biogeographers, behaviorists, and evolutionary biologists. In addition to clarifying our understanding of a diverse tropical group of organisms, the evolutionary framework that results will be an invaluable basis for comparative research in the future.
