Environmental Entomology (2018) 47, 960-968

Dane C. Elmquist and Peter J. Landolt (2018)
Associative learning of food odors by the European paper wasp, Polistes dominula Christ (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)
Environmental Entomology 47 (4), 960-968
Abstract: We investigated associative learning of food odors by the European paper wasp Polistes dominula Christ (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) because of consistent low rates of attraction to food materials in laboratory assays. We hypothesized that wasps in nature exhibit nonspecific food-finding behavior until locating a suitable food, and then respond more strongly and specifically to odors associated with that food reward. Female P. dominula workers exhibited higher rates of attraction in a flight tunnel to piped odors of fermented fruit purees following previous experience with that puree, compared to wasps with no prior experience with the fermented fruits. Attraction behavior included upwind-oriented flight and casting within the odor plume, indicative of chemoanemotaxis. Synthetic chemicals representative of volatiles P. dominula may encounter in nature while foraging was also tested. Similar increases in attraction responses occurred following feeding experience with a sugar solution that included either 3-methyl-1-butanol or pear ester, but not eugenol. These experimental results support the hypothesis of associative learning of food odors in P. dominula. We discuss the ecological relevance of our results and suggest an alternative approach to trap paper wasps in pest situations utilizing learned chemical attractants.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Peter J. Landolt

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
general biology - morphology - evolution

---

Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
Polistes dominula (predator)