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PeerJ

Title:		Testing the habituation assumption underlying models of parasitoid foraging behavior
Author(s):		Abram PK; Cusumano A; Abram K; Colazza S; Peri E;
Address:		"Universite de Montreal, Institut de Recherche en Biologie Vegetale, Montreal, Canada. Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Forestali, Universita degli Studi di Palermo, Palermo, Italy. Department of Entomology, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands"
Journal Title:		PeerJ
Year:		2017
Volume:		20170316
Issue:
Page Number:		e3097 -
DOI:		10.7717/peerj.3097
ISSN/ISBN:		2167-8359 (Print) 2167-8359 (Electronic) 2167-8359 (Linking)
Abstract:		"BACKGROUND: Habituation, a form of non-associative learning, has several well-defined characteristics that apply to a wide range of physiological and behavioral responses in many organisms. In classic patch time allocation models, habituation is considered to be a major mechanistic component of parasitoid behavioral strategies. However, parasitoid behavioral responses to host cues have not previously been tested for the known, specific characteristics of habituation. METHODS: In the laboratory, we tested whether the foraging behavior of the egg parasitoid Trissolcus basalis shows specific characteristics of habituation in response to consecutive encounters with patches of host (Nezara viridula) chemical contact cues (footprints), in particular: (i) a training interval-dependent decline in response intensity, and (ii) a training interval-dependent recovery of the response. RESULTS: As would be expected of a habituated response, wasps trained at higher frequencies decreased their behavioral response to host footprints more quickly and to a greater degree than those trained at low frequencies, and subsequently showed a more rapid, although partial, recovery of their behavioral response to host footprints. This putative habituation learning could not be blocked by cold anesthesia, ingestion of an ATPase inhibitor, or ingestion of a protein synthesis inhibitor. DISCUSSION: Our study provides support for the assumption that diminishing responses of parasitoids to chemical indicators of host presence constitutes habituation as opposed to sensory fatigue, and provides a preliminary basis for exploring the underlying mechanisms"
Keywords:		Habituation Infochemical cues Learning Optimal foraging theory Patch exploitation;
Notes:		"PubMed-not-MEDLINEAbram, Paul K Cusumano, Antonino Abram, Katrina Colazza, Stefano Peri, Ezio eng 2017/03/23 PeerJ. 2017 Mar 16; 5:e3097. doi: 10.7717/peerj.3097. eCollection 2017"