Dynamics of odour learning in Leptopilina boulardi, a hymenopterous parasitoid

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We investigated the dynamics of odour learning involved in host location by a parasitoid insect,Leptopilina boulardi (Hymenoptera: Figitidae). Females of this species find their Drosophila host larvae by probing fruits with their ovipositor. They can be conditioned to respond to an odour when the odour exposure is associated with oviposition. We investigated the effect of the number of conditioning trials, sensitization tests and extinction tests on the retention of the conditioned response. Results showed that: (1) a single odour–oviposition association produced a strong short-term memory (1–2h), which rapidly decayed over 24 h; (2) multiple odour–oviposition associations produced a memory trace that was strong in both the short term and the longer term (24h); (3) sensitization to the odour through mere oviposition experience (without odour) was low after a single trial and high after multiple trials, but was only observed for a short period; (4) all memory traces were erased by three successive extinction tests, regardless of the intertest interval. We conclude that the probing behaviour of a Drosophila parasitoid is characterized by great plasticity shaped in the short term by sensitization, and in the longer term by associative learning. We compare olfactory plasticity in this parasitoid foraging for hosts and that of the honeybee foraging for food, suggesting common underlying processes in the central nervous system. Finally our results may relate to the dynamics of the foraging activity of L.boulardi. Copyright 2003 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.