Trapline foraging by nectar-collecting hornets

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Ecology
• Animal Cognition
• Insect Behavior

Background:

• Many animals, including bees, butterflies, birds, bats, and primates, use "traplines"—stable, repeatable sequences for visiting familiar food resources.
• Trapline foraging demonstrates complex route learning and memory in various animal taxa.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the existence of trapline foraging behavior in wasps, specifically the Japanese yellow hornet (Vespa simillima).
• To analyze the movement patterns and learning capabilities of hornets during foraging on artificial flower arrays.

Main Methods:

• Individually marking wild Japanese yellow hornets.
• Monitoring hornet movement patterns while they foraged on four artificial flowers within their home range.
• Analyzing visitation sequences over thirty consecutive foraging bouts and using different flower array configurations.

Main Results:

• All monitored hornets developed a consistent and repeatable sequence of flower visitation after repeated foraging bouts.
• Hornet foraging efficiency increased with experience.
• Hornets did not consistently choose the shortest path, often prioritizing nearest-neighbor movements over minimizing total travel distance.

Conclusions:

• Japanese yellow hornets exhibit trapline foraging, similar to other known animal groups.
• This finding broadens the scope of comparative research on multi-destination route learning and memory.
• The study adds nectar-foraging wasps to the list of animals demonstrating sophisticated spatial memory and navigation strategies.