Producción CyT
XXXVIII Encontro de Etologia / III Reunião de Biologia do Comportamento do Cone Sul: A Etologia em um Mundo em Transformaçã - Are yellowjackets capable of perceiving and learning about different types of amino acids?
Congreso
Fecha:
2021Editorial y Lugar de Edición:
Universidade Federal de Juiz de ForaResumen *
Amino acids are important nutrients for all living beings since are fundamental to carry out protein synthesis. A diet low in amino acids can seriously affect an individual's development, survival, and success. Social wasps obtain virtually all their protein requirements from animal sources, so the ability to both perceive and discriminate among different stimuli is a key factor, for instance, when facing changes in food availability. The yellowjacket wasp Vespula germanica is an eusocial scavenger with generalist foraging habits. It is native to Europe and in the last century has invaded several regions of the world, including Argentina. The aim of this study was to determine whether these wasps are able to perceive, learn and discriminate between different types of essential and non-essential amino acids (i.e., lysine, glycine, tryptophan, and ornithine). To achieve this goal, we applied a protocol of differential chemotactile conditioning in forage workers of V. germanica and observed the maxilla labium extension response (MaLER). We used as rewarded stimulus a sucrose solution (50% V/V) (i.e., unconditional stimulus), while water and amino acids solutions (10 g/l) both were used for positive or negative conditioned stimulus (CS+ or CS- respectively). The unrewarded stimulus was a plain toothpick to equalize visual cues. The protocol consisted of 12 trials per individual for each type of amino acid, with 6 trials for CS- and 6 for CS+ (n= 26). The results suggest that wasps are able to perceive and learn to differentiate four essential and non-essential amino acids from water. We suggest that antennal perception of dissolved amino acids enables wasps to assess the quality of protein resources, but more essays on this topic will be necessary. Información suministrada por el agente en SIGEVAPalabras Clave
differential conditioningsocial wasps MaLER