Social Learning in Vespula Germanica Wasps: Do They Use Collective Foraging Strategies?

ABSTRACT: Vespula germanica is a social wasp that has become established outside its native range in many regions of the world, becoming a major pest in the invaded areas. In the present work we analyze social communication processes used by V. germanica when exploiting un-depleted food sources. For this purpose, we investigated the arrival pattern of wasps at a protein bait and evaluated whether a forager recruited conspecifics in three different situations: foragers were able to return to the nest (full communication), foragers were removed on arrival (communication impeded), or only one forager was allowed to return to the nest (local enhancement restricted). Results demonstrated the existence of recruitment in V. germanica, given that very different patterns of wasp arrivals and a higher frequen

SUBMITTER: Lozada M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4798183 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature