Template:Did you know nominations/Mischocyttarus mexicanus

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Fuebaey (talk) 07:29, 22 December 2014 (UTC)

Mischocyttarus mexicanus

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• ... that the nest of the paper wasp Mischocyttarus mexicanus is more dramatic than reality television show?

Created/expanded by Gaharrison94 (talk). Self nominated at 20:55, 21 October 2014 (UTC).

• I don't understand the hook, and I don't see anything about reality TV in the article. Per DYK eligibility criteria #3 (Cited hook), the fact(s) mentioned in the hook must be cited in the article. Yoninah (talk) 22:40, 24 November 2014 (UTC)

• When you change a hook, you add it in chronological sequence to the discussion thread, rather than erasing and editing the original hook. I am adding the alt suggestion by an IP below. Yoninah (talk) 14:00, 25 November 2014 (UTC)
• ALT1: ... that colony founders of the species Mischocyttarus mexicanus change their nesting strategy based on their environment? 128.252.128.147, 23:07, 24 November 2014.

• Could you point me to the sentence in the article where the ALT1 hook fact appears? Thanks, Yoninah (talk) 14:05, 25 November 2014 (UTC)

• This information is presented in the "Nesting tactics" subsection under "Behavior," specifically discussed in the third sentence of this subsection.Gaharrison94 (talk) 17:55, 25 November 2014 (UTC)

• Are you referring to the sentence It is interesting that both of these tactics are stable in M. mexicanus and it has been found that this is because each of these strategies is favorable in certain conditions, so this is an example of a context-dependent trait.? If this is to align with the hook, do you mean "environmental conditions"? (Note: Whatever you write has to be present in the source. The rest of this paragraph talks about nesting strategy based on seasons, not on environment.) Yoninah (talk) 19:13, 25 November 2014 (UTC)

• I'm sorry for all the confusion. Seasons are an example of one environmental condition that affect the wasp's behavior. However available nest sites is another environmental factor that can affect behavior, explained later in the article. Additionally, size of the female wasps and their age play into their nest-founding behaviors. The idea is that the wasp species does not have a single nesting behavior, rather their behavior has been found to depend on a number of different environmental factors such as the time of the year, wasp age, population density, and perhaps others. I can modify the page to better reflect that, but this is the idea behind the subsection on "Nesting tactics." Let me know if that helps. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:100a:b01d:accf:d970:1b3d:3092:cfbb (talk • contribs) 21:59, 25 November 2014‎ (UTC)

• Yes, I think it's a good idea to lead off the Behavior section with a topic sentence like the one you suggested: The wasp species does not have a single nesting behavior; rather, their behavior has been found to depend on a number of different environmental factors such as the time of the year, wasp age, population density, and perhaps others. If this sentence is a stand-alone paragraph, it needs a citation per DYK rules. Yoninah (talk) 22:32, 25 November 2014 (UTC)

• Yoninah, the last assignment for the class this was a part of was due on November 20, and Gaharrison94 hasn't edited since November 25. At this point, I think the nomination won't be getting any more attention from the author or any classmates, so you'll need to decide whether this can be approved or needs to be closed. I've struck the original hook, as it clearly isn't tenable. BlueMoonset (talk) 15:14, 16 December 2014 (UTC)

• All right, we can do without the topic sentence, and I would focus the hook on the fact cited in the fifth sentence under "Nesting tactics":
• ALT2: ... that colony founders of the wasp species Mischocyttarus mexicanus change their nesting strategy based on the season?
• New reviewer needed to sign off on ALT2. Yoninah (talk) 19:43, 16 December 2014 (UTC)

• I don't think ALT2 is satisfactory because the differences in nesting strategy are not dependent on the time of year but on environmental factors, making some strategies more likely at one time of year than another. How about ALT3? Cwmhiraeth (talk) 07:21, 21 December 2014 (UTC)

• ALT3 ... that Mischocyttarus mexicanus female wasps may be brood parasites, cannibalizing eggs of a foreign nest and placing an egg of their own in an empty cell?

• Thank you, @Cwmhiraeth: for your expertise on this subject. The nominator did say "environment" in ALT1, but I was unable to deduce that conclusion from the article. Your ALT3 is much better, and cited. Here is a complete review: New enough, long enough, well referenced. All sources are offline and AGF. Offline hook ref AGF and cited inline. No QPQ necessary for first-time nominator. ALT3 good to go. Yoninah (talk) 09:34, 21 December 2014 (UTC)