Environmental Factors Influencing Foraging Activity in the Social Wasp<i>Polybia paulista</i>(Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Epiponini)

Canevazzi, Naila Cristina de Souza; Noll, Fernando Barbosa

doi:10.1155/2011/542487

Cited by 24 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 19 publications

(27 reference statements)

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“…; Jandt et al. ; Canevazzi & Noll ). Our experimental trials took place over a period of 30 d. During this time, there were fluctuations in temperature, and indeed, temperature was a strong predictor of departure rates during the unmanipulated baseline periods.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Allocation of Colony‐Level Foraging Effort in Vespula germanica in Response to Food Resource Quantity, Quality, and Associated Olfactory Cues

2012

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In social insects, selection takes place primarily at the level of the colony. Therefore, unlike solitary insects, social species are expected to forage at rates that maximize colony fitness rather than individual fitness. Workers can increase the net benefit of foraging by responding to increased resource availability, by responding more strongly to higher‐quality resources, and by decreasing the uncertainty with which nestmates find resources. Unlike many ants and social bees, no social wasp is known to utilize a nest‐based recruitment signal to inform nestmates of food location. On the other hand, wasps do learn the odor of food brought to the nest and use this cue to locate the food source outside the nest. Here, we quantify the effects of three food‐associated variables on the allocation of foraging effort in the yellowjacket Vespula germanica. We used an experimental approach to assess whether resource quantity, quality, or associated olfactory information affect the probability that a forager will leave the nest on a foraging trip. We addressed these questions by inserting a known amount of sucrose solution directly into nests and recording foraging effort (departure rate) over the subsequent hour‐long observation period. No differences were found in foraging effort because of the presence/absence of olfactory cues, but there was strong evidence that foraging effort increased in response to resource influx and resource quality. Thus, while olfactory cues are learned in the nest, only resource quality and the cue of increased amount of food in the nest factor into a forager's decision of whether or not to depart on a foraging trip. However, as prior work has shown, once a wasp forager leaves the nest, it uses the learned olfactory cues to aid in finding resources.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Allocation of Colony‐Level Foraging Effort in Vespula germanica in Response to Food Resource Quantity, Quality, and Associated Olfactory Cues

2012

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“…V. crabro is also active with low light intensity but in a higher propensity (Kelber et al, 2011). Second, the worker activity is driven by weather conditions that is quite classical in Vespidae (Canevazzi & Noll, 2011;de Castro, Guimaraes, & Prezoto, 2011;Cruz, Giannotti, Santos, Bichara Filho, & Resende, 2006;Kasper, Reeson, Mackay, & Austin, 2008;da Rocha & Giannotti, 2007). The observed enhancement of the hornet activity during the day with a maximum around noon, already observed by video analysis , can be either attributed to an increase in temperature or in UVB solar irradiation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Activity rhythm and action range of workers of the invasive hornet predator of honeybees Vespa velutina, measured by radio frequency identification tags

Poidatz

Monceau

Bonnard

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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In social insects, the activity rhythm of foragers and their action range determinate the activity of the colony. In vespids, which are mostly predators, the foraging range of workers determines their maximum predation pressure round the nest. One of these species, Vespa velutina, a recently invasive species introduced into Europe, exerts a strong predation on honeybees at the hive. Therefore, the definition of its activity rhythm and spatial range of predation is of primary importance. Using radio frequency identification tags (RFID), two experiments were carried out to (a) determine their return ability (called homing) in releasing 318 individuals at different distance from their colony and (b) monitor their foraging activity rhythm and the duration of their flights based on 71 individuals followed 24 hr/24 during 2 months. The homing ability of V. velutina was evaluated to be up to 5,000 m and was not affected by the cardinal orientation of release point. The lag time to return to the nest increased with the distance of release. Most of the flight activity took place between 07:00 a.m. and 08:00 p.m., hornets doing principally short flights of less than an hour. Foraging range was thus estimated ca. 1,000 m around the nest. This study of V. velutina assisted by RFID tags provides for the first time a baseline for its potential foraging distance that increase our knowledge of this species to (a) refine more accurately models for risk assessment and (b) define security perimeter for early detection of predation on invasion front.

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“…Studies with Epiponini colonies have shown that seasonal differences in foraging rates are associated with the stage of colony development (Gobbi & Machado, 1985, 1986Paula et al, 2003). A major factor that has not been evaluated in this study is the number of immature of each nest collected, since prey provide protein for the development of the offspring, so the amount of prey captured by foragers is an indirect measure of the number of immature and, consequently, the colony's demand for protein (Canevazzi & Noll, 2011). However, we believe that since this material can be stored in the colony to meet future demand, maybe the number of preys stockpiled does not represent a relation with the number of immature present in the nest at that moment.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As shown in Table 1, colonies of wasps with stocked material were collected in warmer and humid times of the year, which is an ideal condition for termite colonies to release winged (Mill, 1983;Medeiros et al, 1999;Costa-Leonardo, 2002). Indeed, studies with colonies of P. paulista show that their foraging activity is mainly influenced by variation of temperature and relative humidity (Canevazzi & Noll, 2011). Similarly, in termites, the triggers for the release of winged on reproductive flights include, temperature, humidity, soil moisture and atmospheric pressure (Costa- Lima, 1938), as well as seasonality, meteorological and social changes, colony size, and physiological factors (Costa-Leonardo, 2002).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Opportunistic Strategies for Capture and Storage of Prey of Two Species of Social Wasps of the Genus Polybia Lepeletier (Vespidae, Polistinae, Epiponini)

et al. 2017

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The foraging activity in social wasps is complex behavior that involves the ability to locate and transport the resources necessary for the colony. The activity is opportunistic and generalist, sometimes adapting to the availability of the resources when the colonies are exposed to critical environmental conditions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the opportunistic behavior of two species of wasps of the genus Polybia for the capture and storage of prey in the form of flights of winged. Five colonies of Polybia occidentalis (Olivier) and two colonies of Polybia paulista (L.) were collected. Six of them contained stored winged of termites, and one contained winged of ants. The results indicated that these two species practice an opportunistic foraging strategy and are able to store large quantities of protein resources in their colonies.

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Environmental Factors Influencing Foraging Activity in the Social WaspPolybia paulista(Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Epiponini)

Cited by 24 publications

References 19 publications

Allocation of Colony‐Level Foraging Effort in Vespula germanica in Response to Food Resource Quantity, Quality, and Associated Olfactory Cues

Allocation of Colony‐Level Foraging Effort in Vespula germanica in Response to Food Resource Quantity, Quality, and Associated Olfactory Cues

Activity rhythm and action range of workers of the invasive hornet predator of honeybees Vespa velutina, measured by radio frequency identification tags

Opportunistic Strategies for Capture and Storage of Prey of Two Species of Social Wasps of the Genus Polybia Lepeletier (Vespidae, Polistinae, Epiponini)

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