Conspecific and Food Attraction in the Wasp Vespula germanica

PAOLA D´ADAMO; MARIANA LOZADA

ANNALS OF THE ENTOMOLOGYCAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA

Entomological Society of America

Lugar: Lanham; Año: 2005 vol. 98 p. 236 - 240

0013-8746

We studied attraction of Vespula germanica (F.) by conspeciÞcs and food. By conÞningdifferent numbers of wasps in containers, we showed that wasp attraction is density-dependent.Attraction to the containers persisted when the wasps were removed, suggesting that wasps leave an odor trace. Moreover, we demonstrated that conspeciÞc attraction is not seasonal and that thorax extracts are attractive. Conversely, cat food bait attractiveness varied during the season. Third, we studied the predatory behavior of V. germanica wasps to determine whether the attraction elicited by conspeciÞc wasps is due to cannibalistic behavior. Finally, we showed that attraction to food varied seasonally, unlike conspeciÞc attraction. We believe these experiments are useful for improving control methods of this pest that severely affects northwestern Patagonia by the utilization of speciÞc and stable toxic baits.