Social wasps build their nests using plant material and can thereby occupy different types of habitats. The organization of their colonies is generally based on complex communication systems that include chemical compounds of the cuticle that are shared with the material of their nests thus contributing to the specific chemical signature of their colony. These compounds can vary by environmental factors, in this case the nesting substrate may interfere with this composition. However, no study to date has investigated whether there is any relationship between the chemical signature of the colony and the nesting substrate of their nests. Therefore, in this study we investigated the relationship between the colonial chemical signature and the plant in which the colonies were nesting. Colonies of three species of social wasps and samples of plants where they nested were collected, then extractions of the chemical composition of adult wasps, nest material and plants were performed. The results show that the colonies of social wasps investigated here share their chemical composition with the plants where their nests were built. Our results suggest that the plant can provide the colony with more than just a place with ideal physical conditions and safety, but also compounds that compose the colonial chemical signature.

社会黄蜂使用植物材料筑巢，因此可以占据不同类型的栖息地。它们的菌落的组织通常基于复杂的通信系统，其中包括与它们的巢穴材料共享的角质层的化合物，从而有助于它们的菌落的特定化学特征。这些化合物可能因环境因素而异，在这种情况下，嵌套基材可能会干扰该组合物。然而，迄今为止，还没有研究调查菌落的化学特征与其巢穴的筑巢基质之间是否存在任何关系。因此，在这项研究中，我们调查了菌落化学特征与菌落筑巢的植物之间的关系。收集了三种社会黄蜂的群体和它们筑巢的植物样本，然后提取了成年黄蜂、巢材料和植物的化学成分。结果表明，这里调查的社会黄蜂群落与筑巢的植物共享它们的化学成分。我们的结果表明，这种植物不仅可以为菌落提供一个具有理想物理条件和安全性的地方，还可以为菌落提供构成菌落化学特征的化合物。