PMID: 9632510Dec 16, 1998Paper

The effect of complete versus incomplete information on odour discrimination in a parasitic wasp

Animal Behaviour
Louise E M VetD R Papaj

Abstract

We studied the function of learning in the parasitoid Leptopilina heterotoma by looking at discrimination of odour stimuli used in foraging for a host. To optimize the rate of encounters with hosts, these parasitoids are expected to assess the extent to which variation in host-substrate odours is reliably associated with variation in the presence of hosts, that is, substrate profitability. Where the association is reliable, parasitoids should attend to variation in odours and discriminate between them; where it is not, they should ignore it. We hypothesized that foraging decisions are based on the completeness of information the animal has about differences in substrate profitabilities. Our laboratory studies showed that discrimination and non-discrimination of odour stimuli are dynamic behavioural decisions that can be related to the degree of substrate variation and to an animal's informational state. In wind-tunnel studies, females learned to discriminate between odours from substrates that were qualitatively different, for example, between odours from apple and pear substrates or between yeast substrates with different C6 compounds added. They did not discriminate when differences were small (e.g. between odours from two ap...Continue Reading

Citations

May 19, 2005·Journal of Chemical Ecology·T BukovinszkyJ C Van Lenteren
Nov 24, 2006·Journal of Chemical Ecology·Marco D'AlessandroTed C J Turlings
Feb 15, 2011·Journal of Chemical Ecology·Mirian Fernandes Furtado MichereffMaria Carolina Blassioli Moraes
Nov 22, 2008·Plant, Cell & Environment·Marcel Dicke
Aug 17, 2016·International Journal of Molecular Sciences·Minghui FeiRieta Gols
Jul 18, 2019·Journal of Insect Science·Catherine M LittleN Kirk Hillier
Mar 14, 2014·Tropical Animal Health and Production·Aline Costa de LucioVera Fernanda Martins Hossepian de Lima

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