Learning in Vespula germanica social wasps: situations of unpredictable food locations

Moreyra, Sabrina; D’Adamo, Paola; Lozada, Mariana

doi:10.1007/s00040-016-0477-z

Cited by 9 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…D'Adamo & Lozada , , ; Lozada & D'Adamo , , ; Moreyra et al . ). It was observed, for example, that when a forager found an abundant food resource in a certain location, it returned to the same site even when the food was no longer available or had been displaced nearby (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…D'Adamo & Lozada , ; Lozada & D'Adamo ; Moreyra et al . ). Interestingly, wasps which had visited a certain site and higher number of collecting visits (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…However, the time wasps took to find and land on the food placed in the new position (searching time) diminished on following visits, suggesting that wasps used past experience to reduce time spent over previously learned locations, that is, wasps learned the new location, although the first visit still influenced their decision‐making (Moreyra et al . ). In the current investigation, we will further analyse this interesting phenomenon of V. germanica returning to previously learned locations, and we will also evaluate the interference of a single past experience linked to a previous food quantity choice.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…; Moreyra et al . ; Lozada et al . ), although it is not clear why could this be occurring in terms of cost–benefit trade‐offs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies show that during this relocating behaviour, V. germanica makes use of varied cognitive abilities related to foraging (D'Adamo & Lozada ; Lozada & D'Adamo ; Moreyra et al . , ). Previous work revealed that this wasp associates food with certain visual, spatial and odour cues.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Moreyra

Lozada

2018

Austral Entomology

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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 at 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 300, 600 or 900 mm 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 300 mm rather than 600 or 900 mm 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 subsequent foraging behaviour.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…D'Adamo & Lozada , ; Lozada & D'Adamo ; Moreyra et al . ). Interestingly, wasps which had visited a certain site and higher number of collecting visits (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…; Moreyra et al . ; Lozada et al . ), although it is not clear why could this be occurring in terms of cost–benefit trade‐offs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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