Patterns of food transfer in yellow-legged hornet nests revealed by heavy metal tracers

Poidatz Juliette, Lihoreau Mathieu, Thiéry Denis. 2022. Patterns of food transfer in yellow-legged hornet nests revealed by heavy metal tracers. Entomologia Generalis, 42 (5) : 809-817.

Résumé : A social insect colony can be seen as a superorganism in which nutrient collection and regulation is achieved through the collective action of workers. Here we investigated how workers of the yellow-legged hornet Vespa velutina, an invasive predator of honeybees and other insects in Europe, distribute the incoming food within their nests. Food transfer among colonies differing in composition of developmental stage and abundance of different castes was compared by feeding workers with protein and carbohydrate solutions labelled with non-radioactive heavy metals (rubidium and caesium) and measuring the heavy metal tracers' occurrence in adults and larvae in the nests after 24h. Caesium labelled sucrose was more abundant in the adults (workers, males and the queen), while rubidium labelled proteins were more abundant in the larvae. The lightest larvae received more protein than the others. The lightest workers received more carbohydrate, and the largest workers more protein. Even if this work is exploratory, our results considerably improve our knowledge of hornet biology by showing how food distribution patterns may vary throughout the development cycle of colonies. They also provide new perspectives to understand how specific nutrients are distributed in nests, and may help develop Trojan horses biological control strategies based on food distribution.

Mots-clés Agrovoc : métal lourd, Vespa, Vespa velutina, développement biologique, composition des aliments, lutte anti-insecte, lutte biologique, larve, espèce envahissante, travailleur social, entomologie, conseiller agricole, césium 137

Mots-clés géographiques Agrovoc : France, Europe

Mots-clés libres : Nutrition, Food network, Rubidium, Caesium, Social insect, Vespa velutina

Agences de financement hors UE : Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Agence de la transition écologique

Projets sur financement : (FRA) Structure et efficacité des réseaux de pollinisation dans des environnements changeants

Auteurs et affiliations

• Poidatz Juliette, CIRAD-BIOS-UMR PVBMT (REU) ORCID: 0000-0003-2942-2541
• Lihoreau Mathieu, CNRS (FRA)
• Thiéry Denis, INRAE (FRA) - auteur correspondant

Source : Cirad-Agritrop (https://agritrop.cirad.fr/608331/)

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