Influence of Illuminance and Forager Experience on Use of Orientation Cues in Social Wasps (Vespinae)

Abstract

We tested the influence of illuminance and level of forager experience on nest orientation behavior of the social wasps Vespula vulgaris, Vespa crabro, and Dolichovespula saxonica in an artificial laboratory tunnel system. The number of wasps which oriented themselves chemically via a terrestrial trail or used visual orientation were determined at different illuminance levels for foragers which were naive or experienced with the tunnel system. In V. vulgaris and D. saxonica, mainly the young and naive foragers used the chemical trail for orientation in brightness. Experienced foragers used visual cues for nest orientation. In V. crabro, naive and experienced foragers followed the chemical trail in a similar intensity. In darkness, when visual orientation was limited, the relative importance of the chemical trail increased dramatically in all species and all experience classes.