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Evolutionary, molecular and comparative zoology
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 54(6)

Odour and visual cues utilised by German yellowjackets (Vespula germanica) while relocating protein or carbohydrate resources

Sabrina Moreyra A , Paola D’Adamo A B and Mariana Lozada A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Laboratorio Ecotono, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Quintral 1250 – (8400), Bariloche, Argentina.

B Corresponding author. Email: pdadamo@crub.uncoma.edu.ar

Australian Journal of Zoology 54(6) 393-397 https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO06029
Submitted: 30 March 2006  Accepted: 10 November 2006   Published: 9 January 2007

Abstract

Foragers of Vespula germanica (Fab.) return to a food source that has not been depleted. In this work we investigate the utilisation of olfactory and visual cues by these foragers for relocating a specific source location. We trained wasp foragers to feed on a dish with either honey or meat. At the testing phase, we analysed searching and landing behaviour over three cues: the original feeding site, an unscented model of the food, and a container from which food odours emanated. We compared the responses of the foragers to the three cues and evaluated the effect of bait type with which wasps were trained. We found that landing responses are elicited mainly by odour cues in both protein- and carbohydrate-trained wasps. However, the type of food that wasps are exploiting influences their searching behaviour, as the number of hovers over the visual cue was higher when wasps were trained with carbohydrates whereas the number of hovers over the original feeding site was higher when wasps were trained with proteins.


Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Josue Nuñez for his valuable comments and suggestions. This study was partially funded through a grant from CONICET (PIP 2004) and BID: PID 391/03. We also acknowledge support from the Universidad del Comahue. The experiments comply with the current laws of the country in which they were performed.


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