Local enhancement in the wasp Vespula germanica Are visual cues all that matter?

Summary:

Local enhancement, a simple process of social transmission, occurs in the wasp Vespula germanica. Past studies have focused on the role played by visual rather than odour cues in attracting conspecific foragers to a food source. However, odour is known to be important in insect communication in general and it has been suggested to influence naive forager wasp choice. In this study, we experimentally studied local enhancement in Vespula germanica, discriminating between odour and visual cues. We show that conspecific odour attracts Vespula germanica foraging workers and that this attraction is comparable to that of an attractive bait. We thus conclude that odour may be playing a central role in local enhancement by this social wasp.