| Abstrakt: |
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 saxonicain 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 naïve or experienced with the tunnel system. In V. vulgarisand D. saxonica, mainly the young and naïve foragers used the chemical trail for orientation in brightness. Experienced foragers used visual cues for nest orientation. In V. crabro, naïve 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. |
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