INVESTIGADORES
LOZADA Mariana
artículos
Título:
Local enhancement in the wasp Vespula germanica. Are visual cues all that matter?
Autor/es:
PAOLA D´ADAMO; JUAN CORLEY; P SACKMANN; MARIANA LOZADA
Revista:
INSECTES SOCIAUX
Referencias:
Año: 2000 vol. 47 p. 289 - 291
ISSN:
0020-1812
Resumen:
Local enhancement, a simple process of social transmission, occurs in thewasp Vespula germanica. Past studies have focused on the role played by visual ratherthan odour cues in attracting conspecific foragers to a food source. However, odour isknown to be important in insect communication in general and it has been suggested toinfluence naive forager wasp choice. In this study, we experimentally studied localenhancement in Vespula germanica, discriminating between odour and visual cues.We show that conspecific odour attracts Vespula germanica foraging workers and thatthis attraction is comparable to that of an attractive bait. We thus conclude that odour,may be playing a central role in local enhancement by this social wasp.