How single events can influence decision-making in foraging Vespula germanica (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) social wasps

MOREYRA, SABRINA; LOZADA, MARIANA

Austral Entomology

Austral Entomology

Lugar: Australia; Año: 2018

Social insects are known for their behavioural plasticity and learning abilities. In the present work we evaluated whether a single past experience could influence Vespula germanica (F.) foraging behaviour by analysing wasp response in two changing situations: when food was displaced different distances from a previously learned location, and when the amount of resource was significantly decreased. In the former case, wasps were allowed to collect meat once from a dish which was later displaced 30, 60 or 90 cm from the previous location. Thus, on the second visit wasps encountered an empty dish in place of the previously baited one. We recorded the time taken to find the displaced food, the number of hovers over the previously learned location, and the direction of first approach of returning foragers. Wasps spent less time searching at the previously learnt site when the dish with food was displaced 30 cm rather than 60 or 90 cm from the learned location. In the second experiment, when two dishes with food were simultaneously offered, one containing 20 g and another 80 g, wasps preferred the 80 g dish. On their second visit, we switched the position of the dishes and recorded which dish wasps collected food from. We found that most wasps collected food from the previously learned location and not from the dish with the more abundant resource. This study illustrates the remarkable influence of a single collecting experience on V. germanica?s subsequent foraging behaviour.