Spatial configuration learning in Vespula germanica forager wasps

• Published in: Ethology 2022-07, Vol.128 (7), p.530-537
• Main Authors: Moreyra, Sabrina, Lozada, Mariana
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Configurations; contextual changes; Entrances; Environmental changes; invasive species; Learning; memory; Position (location); social wasps; Spatial discrimination learning; Vertical orientation; Y‐maze
• ISSN: 0179-1613; 1439-0310
• DOI: 10.1111/eth.13312

In the present study, we sought to evaluate spatial learning in V. germanica wasps when dealing with environmental changes while localising food in a Y‐maze. We analysed whether foragers learn the spatial configuration of a Y‐maze and remember the location of the entrance when the position of vertical and horizontal cues was modified after a single collecting experience. Four experiments were performed in order to assess how returning wasps localise the previously rewarded site under contextual changes (N = 84). The results demonstrate that wasps learned the spatial configuration of a Y‐maze, after one visit, in all given circumstances. Foragers chose to re‐enter the maze through the entrance, irrespective of the contextual changes in the vertical cues or the relative geographical position of the Y‐maze (horizontal cues). Moreover, our findings reveal that wasps responded differently in relation to the location of the vertical and horizontal cues on their second visit. When the horizontal cues were kept in the original position after the first visit, wasps ignored the novel location of the vertical cues. Conversely, when the position of the Y‐maze was changed, the cylinders seemed to have had a greater influence on the initial wasps' response. The current investigation confirms previous findings on the versatile behaviour of V. germanica when dealing with modifications in anthropised scenarios, which might favour its establishment in novel territories suffering from unpredictable environmental changes due to the climate crisis. Four experiments were performed to assess how returning wasps localise the previously rewarded site under contextual changes, in which the number of hovers and landings at each dish located at the entrance (E), at the previously chosen exit and at the previously non‐chosen exit were recorded. Our results showed that wasps learned the spatial configuration of a Y‐maze, after one visit. Foragers chose to re‐enter the maze through the entrance, irrespective of the contextual changes.