title: The accumulation of a chemical cue: nest-entrance trail in the German yellowjacket, Vespula germanica.
abstract: Vespine wasps have been shown to deposit an attractive chemical in the nest entrance. Foragers use this to help locate the nest when returning to it. We determined how many individuals need to track (pass through) the entrance before the chemical is recognized. We found a logistic response as the number of tracks increased. At 200 tracks and above there was a 75-90% positive response rate to the chemical. We found no evidence of trail-marking behavior performed by foragers inside the nest entrance. We conclude that the trail is not an evolved signal, but is a cue composed of an accumulation of hydrocarbons deposited from the legs or feet of workers as they walk on a substrate. This is the first quantitative measurement of the attractiveness of the nest-entrance chemical in a social wasp.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Jandt
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Curry
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hemauer
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Jeanne
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003463:Cues; D005858:Germany; D006927:Hymenoptera / Q000502:physiology*; D009425:Nesting Behavior; D009812:Odorants; D012919:Social Behavior