Social Information Use in Foraging Insects

Considerations for Insect Learning in Integrated Pest Management

“…Studies into insect learning have been focused primarily on honeybees and other pollinators (foraging behavior and sublethal effects of pesticides and toxins), predatory insects and parasitoids (host-finding behavior and potential for improved efficacy in pest management strategies), Drosophila spp. Fabricius (Diptera: Drosophilidae) (as a model system for understanding insect development, evolution, and genetics), and phytophagous insects (host-selection and host-finding behavior; Du et al 1997, Cunningham et al 2001, Schwaerzel et al 2003, Fiala 2007, Leadbeater and Chittka 2009, Busto et al 2010, Giunti et al 2015, Charbonneau et al 2016, Dunlap et al 2016, Smolla et al 2016). Learning and memory can be assessed via changes in insect behavior (choice tests), involuntary responses (proboscis extension reflex), or physiology (calcium imaging; electromyography and silicon multichannel electron arrays; Faber et al 1999, Daly et al 2004, Farina et al 2005, Frost et al 2012).…”

“…Eusocial insects, such as honeybees, bumblebees, and ants, have been observed engaging in recruitment behavior akin to mentoring, such as honey bee waggle dancing and ant trail marking (Chittka and Leadbeater 2005, Franks and Richardson 2006, Smolla et al 2016). Analyses of recruitment relative to food patch distribution patterns suggest that this behavior is learned rather than innate (Heinrich 1979, Leadbeater and Chittka 2009). When recruitment messages are unreliable, foragers quickly learn to ignore social cues in favor of increased scouting activity (Dunlap et al 2016, I’Anson Price et al 2019).…”

Resource selection in nasute termite: The role of social information

“…Faced with these variations in the spatiotemporal characteristics of resources (e.g., quantity, quality, and suitability), individuals need to efficiently assess the costs and benefits involved in exploring and selecting a resource. To make these decisions, animals need to acquire relevant information from their environment, which can be obtained through their direct interactions with the environment (i.e., private information) or even by observing other individuals (from the same or different species) and/or their cues left in the environment (i.e., social information) (Leadbeater & Chittka, 2009; Valone, 2007).…”

A comunicação do processo reprodutivo em abelhas sem ferrão (Hymenoptera: Apidae, Meliponini)

“…An important and well-studied example of information exchange in insect societies is recruitment communication. This kind of communication is characterized by the increase in the number of individuals at a food source, but recruitment can also occur in the context of nest building or excavation and nest site selection (Dussutour & Beekman 2009 While using social information is often a good strategy, it is not always profitable to use this kind of information (Leadbeater & Chittka 2009;Grüter & Leadbeater 2014). Both the production and the use of social information have time and an energy costs, so in some conditions it will be better to explore the world individually or use personal information acquired in the past (Leadbeater & Chittka 2009;Grüter & Leadbeater 2014).…”

“…This kind of communication is characterized by the increase in the number of individuals at a food source, but recruitment can also occur in the context of nest building or excavation and nest site selection (Dussutour & Beekman 2009 While using social information is often a good strategy, it is not always profitable to use this kind of information (Leadbeater & Chittka 2009;Grüter & Leadbeater 2014). Both the production and the use of social information have time and an energy costs, so in some conditions it will be better to explore the world individually or use personal information acquired in the past (Leadbeater & Chittka 2009;Grüter & Leadbeater 2014). While little is known about the adaptive significance of social information in most social insects, both empirical and theoretical attempts have been made to understand the contexts in which social information is beneficial in honeybees (Apis mellifera) (Beekman & Lew, 2007;Dornhaus, 2006;Anna Dornhaus & Chittka, 2004;Sherman & Visscher, 2002;Schürch & Grüter, submitted).…”