Foraging behaviour of the exotic wasp Vespula germanica (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) on a native caterpillar defoliator.
Bull Entomol Res
; 108(3): 406-412, 2018 Jun.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28925338
Vespula germanica is a social wasp and an opportunistic predator. While foraging, these wasps learn and integrate different kinds of cues. They have successfully invaded many parts of the world, including native Nothofagus and Lophozonia forests located in the Andean-Patagonian region, where they forage on native arthropods. Perzelia arda, a lepidopteron defoliator of Lophozonia obliqua, uses the foliage to hide in and feed on. The purpose of this work is to study whether V. germanica use olfactory cues when foraging on P. arda. To do this, we used a Y-tube olfactometer and established three treatments to compare pairs of all combinations of stimuli (larvae, leaves with larval traces, and leaves without larval traces) and controls. Data were analysed via two developed models that showed decisions made by V. germanica and allowed to establish a scale of preferences between the stimuli. The analysis demonstrates that V. germanica wasps choose P. arda as larval prey and are capable of discriminating between the offered stimuli (deviance information criterion (DIC) null model = 873.97; DIC simple model = 84.5, n = 152). According to the preference scale, V. germanica preferred leaves with traces of larvae, suggesting its ability to associate these traces with the presence of the prey. This may be because, under natural conditions, larvae are never exposed outside their shelters of leaves and therefore V. germanica uses indirect signals. The presence of V. germanica foraging on P. arda highlights the flexible foraging behaviour of this wasp which may also act as a positive biological control, reducing lepidopteran populations.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Comportamento Predatório
/
Olfato
/
Vespas
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Espécies Introduzidas
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Mariposas
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Animals
País/Região como assunto:
America do sul
/
Argentina
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Bull Entomol Res
Ano de publicação:
2018
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Argentina
País de publicação:
Reino Unido