The influence of past experience on wasp choice related to foraging behavior

• Autores: Moreyra, Sabrina Natalia; D'adamo, Paola; Lozada, Mariana
• Año de publicación: 2013
• Idioma: inglés
• Tipo de recurso: artículo
• Materia: Cognition; Foraging Behavior; Learning; Memory; Social Wasps; Vespula Germanica
• Institución: Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

Memory has been little studied in social wasps. Vespula germanica (Fab.) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) frequently revisits nondepleted food sources, making several trips between the resource and the nest. In this study, we analyzed this relocating behavior in order to evaluate whether this species is capable of remembering an established association after 1 h. To this end, we trained wasps to feed from a certain array. Then it was removed, setting it up again 1 h later, but this time 2 baited feeders were put in place, one at the original feeding site and the other opposite the first. We recorded the proportion of returning foragers, and their choice of feeder, after either 1 or 4 feeding trials. After 1 h, 78% of wasps trained with 4 feeding trials and 65% trained with 1, returned to the experimental area. Furthermore, during the testing phase, wasps trained with 4 feeding trials collected food from the previously learned feeder significantly more frequently than from the nonlearned one (P < 0.05). In contrast, wasps that had been trained only once chose both feeders equally. Thus, memory retrieval could be observed 1 h after wasps had collected food on 4 consecutive occasions, but not after only 1. To our knowledge, this is the first study showing that V. germanica is capable of remembering an association 1 h after the last associative event, demonstrating that 1 h does not impair memory retention if 4 feeding experiences have occurred.
Fil: Moreyra, Sabrina Natalia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación En Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina
Fil: D'adamo, Paola. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación En Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina
Fil: Lozada, Mariana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación En Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina