Chemical trails used for orientation in nest cavities by two vespine wasps, Vespa crabro and Vespula vulgaris

Summary:

Foragers of the two cavity-nesting vespines, Vespa crabro and Vespula vulgaris, lay and follow chemical trails in their nest cavities. In our experiments 75% of V. crabro and 72% of V. vulgaris foraging workers followed a trail arranged in a direction to which they were not accustomed. In experiments with trails taken in from conspecific alien colonies, 21% of V. crabro foragers and 65% of V. vulgaris foragers followed the trails. These behavioural responses indicate that the trail of V. crabro is colony-specific whereas that of V. vulgaris is not.