Foraging decisions in the invasive wasp Vespula germanica: towards an improvement of pest management.

MATTIACCI, ANALIA; MASCIOCCHI ,M; CORLEY J.C

Guaruja

Congreso; International Union for the Study of Social Insects (IUSSI 2018); 2018

IUSSI

In social insects, decisions on what patch to exploit are influenced by cues received from nestmates (i.e.: recruitment; social enhancement) as well as by those elicited by the patch (i.e.: distance to the nest, quality, accessibility). When these cues convey non-converging information, which rules the forager should follow are critical to successful foraging. This is likely why a flexible response could be expected in species that exploit resources that are highly variable in space and time and that are exposed to both individual and colony-dependent mandates. The German yellowjacket Vespula germanica, is a social wasp that has successfully invaded Patagonia Argentina, rapidly reaching a pest status. V. germanica is an opportunistic and generalist forager and scavenger species, that feeds both on animal protein and sugar-rich carbohydrate sources. These wasps exhibit a rich foraging behavioral repertoire in which learning and memory play a fundamental role. We studied the flexibility in foraging strategies of V. germanica workers. Wasps were trained to specific patches (i.e., protein or carbohydrate), and we then evaluated their response (i.e.: landing) when the patch was changed. Preliminary results suggest that V. germanica workers shows a highly flexible foraging strategy when foraging on protein sources, however this flexibility is lower when feeding on carbohydrates.