Robledo-Ospina Luis E, Morehouse Nathan, Escobar Federico, Rao Dinesh
Red de Ecoetología, Instituto de Ecología, A.C. Carretera antigua a Coatepec No. 351, Xalapa, Veracruz CP 91073, Mexico; Grupo de Aracnología, Universidad de Caldas, Manizales, Caldas, Colombia.
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
Behav Processes. 2022 Apr;197:104619. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2022.104619. Epub 2022 Mar 10.
Search images are perceptual biases acquired through experience that improve an individual's ability to detect the object of their search (e.g., a predator seeking prey). In hymenopterans, examples include floral search images in bees and acquired sensory biases towards specific prey in wasp predators. Mud dauber wasps exhibit individual specialization and consistency in prey preferences through time, often based on visual and chemical cues, that may vary at intraspecific levels. However, the search image concept in wasps has not been evaluated from a visual ecology perspective. Using psychophysical visual modelling from multispectral digital photography, we measured the colour and body pattern of the spiders captured and stored in nests by the wasp Trypoxylon mexicanum. Those visual traits were compared at the community and nest cell levels, according to the nest provisioning sequence, and its relationship with spider diversity. Our results show that the wasps are choosing a small group of orb weavers (Araneidae) with similar coloration and body patterns. These findings highlight the specific visual features that may be the focal trait during search image formation in these wasps. The colour and pattern variables of spider prey were consistent over time, suggesting that individual search images may strengthen with experience.
搜索图像是通过经验获得的感知偏差，可提高个体检测其搜索目标的能力（例如，捕食者寻找猎物）。在膜翅目昆虫中，例子包括蜜蜂的花朵搜索图像以及黄蜂捕食者对特定猎物的后天感官偏差。泥蜂通过时间表现出个体在猎物偏好上的专业化和一致性，通常基于视觉和化学线索，这些线索在种内水平上可能有所不同。然而，黄蜂的搜索图像概念尚未从视觉生态学角度进行评估。利用多光谱数码摄影的心理物理学视觉建模，我们测量了墨西哥细腹蜂捕获并储存在巢穴中的蜘蛛的颜色和身体图案。根据巢穴供应顺序，在群落和巢室水平上比较了这些视觉特征，以及它们与蜘蛛多样性的关系。我们的结果表明，黄蜂正在选择一小群具有相似颜色和身体图案的圆蛛（园蛛科）。这些发现突出了在这些黄蜂形成搜索图像过程中可能作为重点特征的特定视觉特征。蜘蛛猎物的颜色和图案变量随时间保持一致，这表明个体搜索图像可能会随着经验而强化。
