Sexual Dimorphism in Flight-Related Structures of a Paper Wasp
Bruno Matheus Gomes, André Rodrigues de Souza, Fábio Santos do Nascimento, Carlos E. Sarmiento · 2026
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Description
Gomes and colleagues report a 2026 study of sex differences in flight-related body structures in a paper wasp, Polistes simillimus. The team measured body traits linked to flight in one hundred mated pairs and compared size and proportions between females and males.
Females were larger overall, as expected for the sex that founds nests and forages. The sexes also differed in body proportions, not just scale: wing and body part ratios shifted in ways that suit their different flight tasks. Proportion shifts can change speed, load carrying, and agility. The authors frame the measurements as testable hypotheses about how flight performance evolved in each sex, a step toward linking body shape to what wasps actually do on the wing.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Bruno Matheus Gomes, André Rodrigues de Souza, Fábio Santos do Nascimento, Carlos E. Sarmiento |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 16 KB |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |