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Updated: Jun 7, 2026

Evaluation of the Productivity of Social Wasp Colonies (Vespinae) and an Introduction to the Traditional Japanese Vespula Wasp Hunting Technique
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Published on: September 11, 2019

Yellowjackets use nest-based cues to differentially exploit higher-quality resources.

Benjamin J Taylor1, Dane R Schalk, Robert L Jeanne

  • 1Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin, 546 Russell Labs, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706, USA. bjtaylor1@wisc.edu

Die Naturwissenschaften
|October 22, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Social wasps use food-associated odors inside the nest to guide foraging decisions. This mechanism allows colonies to prioritize searching for higher-quality food resources in the environment.

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Area of Science:

  • Animal Behavior
  • Ecology
  • Insect Social Dynamics

Background:

  • Social insects, like wasps, face dynamic food environments.
  • Efficient foraging is crucial for colony growth and survival.
  • Olfactory cues play a role in guiding foraging in vespine wasps.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if naive foragers use intranidal olfactory cues to assess food quality.
  • To determine if social wasps can bias foraging effort towards higher-quality resources.

Main Methods:

  • Two differently scented sucrose solutions of varying concentrations were introduced into Vespula germanica nests.
  • Foragers at an external feeder were presented with a choice between the two scents.
  • Forager choices were recorded to assess their response to olfactory cues linked to resource quality.

Main Results:

  • Wasps demonstrated a preference for higher-quality resources when presented with choices informed by intranidal odor cues.
  • The study confirmed that food-associated odors within the nest influence naive foragers' decisions.
  • This indicates a mechanism for colony-level optimization of foraging effort.

Conclusions:

  • Vespula germanica colonies can effectively bias foraging towards superior food sources using internal olfactory signals.
  • This simple mechanism enhances the colony's ability to maximize nutrient intake.
  • Understanding these cues provides insight into the complex foraging strategies of social insects.