Recruitment in Swarm-Founding Wasps: Polybia occidentalis Does not Actively Scent-Mark Carbohydrate Food Sources
Scent marking food resources is expected to enhance foraging efficiency reducing search time. Many social bees exhibit this behavior, but scent-marking is absent in social wasps, except for Vespa mandarinia. We tested for scent marking in the swarm-founding wasp, Polybia occidentalis. This wasp has...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2011-01-01
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| Series: | Psyche: A Journal of Entomology |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/378576 |
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| author | Benjamin J. Taylor Erik V. Nordheim Teresa I. Schueller Robert L. Jeanne |
| author_facet | Benjamin J. Taylor Erik V. Nordheim Teresa I. Schueller Robert L. Jeanne |
| author_sort | Benjamin J. Taylor |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Scent marking food resources is expected to enhance foraging efficiency reducing search time. Many social bees exhibit this behavior, but scent-marking is absent in social wasps, except for Vespa mandarinia. We tested for scent marking in the swarm-founding wasp, Polybia occidentalis. This wasp has moderately large colonies and utilizes resources that are concentrated in time and space, making scent marking profitable. Also, this wasp uses chemical markings to lead nestmates to a new nest site during swarm emigration, making it possible that it could use the same behavior to recruit nestmates to a food source. Foragers from 11 colonies were given a choice between a previously visited feeder and an unvisited one, both containing a rich, unscented sucrose solution. There was no difference in the number of visits to the two treatments. However, some individuals chose the feeder on one side more often. We conclude that foragers of this species of wasp do not use odor marks left behind by nestmates to find food, but they do exhibit the tendency, when returning to a food source that has not been depleted, to choose a resource based on its relative position, presumably by using visual cues. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-0a26f8734a6b4b1fb44f13e43838d712 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0033-2615 1687-7438 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2011-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Psyche: A Journal of Entomology |
| spelling | doaj-art-0a26f8734a6b4b1fb44f13e43838d7122025-02-03T06:06:00ZengWileyPsyche: A Journal of Entomology0033-26151687-74382011-01-01201110.1155/2011/378576378576Recruitment in Swarm-Founding Wasps: Polybia occidentalis Does not Actively Scent-Mark Carbohydrate Food SourcesBenjamin J. Taylor0Erik V. Nordheim1Teresa I. Schueller2Robert L. Jeanne3Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin, 546 Russell Labs, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USADepartments of Statistics and Forest & Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin, 1110 Medical Sciences Center, 1300 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706, USADepartment of Zoology, University of Wisconsin, 546 Russell Labs, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USADepartment of Entomology, University of Wisconsin, 546 Russell Labs, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USAScent marking food resources is expected to enhance foraging efficiency reducing search time. Many social bees exhibit this behavior, but scent-marking is absent in social wasps, except for Vespa mandarinia. We tested for scent marking in the swarm-founding wasp, Polybia occidentalis. This wasp has moderately large colonies and utilizes resources that are concentrated in time and space, making scent marking profitable. Also, this wasp uses chemical markings to lead nestmates to a new nest site during swarm emigration, making it possible that it could use the same behavior to recruit nestmates to a food source. Foragers from 11 colonies were given a choice between a previously visited feeder and an unvisited one, both containing a rich, unscented sucrose solution. There was no difference in the number of visits to the two treatments. However, some individuals chose the feeder on one side more often. We conclude that foragers of this species of wasp do not use odor marks left behind by nestmates to find food, but they do exhibit the tendency, when returning to a food source that has not been depleted, to choose a resource based on its relative position, presumably by using visual cues.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/378576 |
| spellingShingle | Benjamin J. Taylor Erik V. Nordheim Teresa I. Schueller Robert L. Jeanne Recruitment in Swarm-Founding Wasps: Polybia occidentalis Does not Actively Scent-Mark Carbohydrate Food Sources Psyche: A Journal of Entomology |
| title | Recruitment in Swarm-Founding Wasps: Polybia occidentalis Does not Actively Scent-Mark Carbohydrate Food Sources |
| title_full | Recruitment in Swarm-Founding Wasps: Polybia occidentalis Does not Actively Scent-Mark Carbohydrate Food Sources |
| title_fullStr | Recruitment in Swarm-Founding Wasps: Polybia occidentalis Does not Actively Scent-Mark Carbohydrate Food Sources |
| title_full_unstemmed | Recruitment in Swarm-Founding Wasps: Polybia occidentalis Does not Actively Scent-Mark Carbohydrate Food Sources |
| title_short | Recruitment in Swarm-Founding Wasps: Polybia occidentalis Does not Actively Scent-Mark Carbohydrate Food Sources |
| title_sort | recruitment in swarm founding wasps polybia occidentalis does not actively scent mark carbohydrate food sources |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/378576 |
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