The Tiny Brains of Wasps Can Learn and Remember Information

Abstract

If you have a garden, you have probably seen many insects flying around looking for food. Despite having miniature brains, these small creatures can learn and memorize flower features, mainly colors and smells, which they associate with nectar and pollen (their food) provided by the flowers. Honeybees are not the only pollinators in nature—wasps also pollinate flowers, but less is known about them. We studied whether wasps could learn and memorize information. We developed a study to investigate whether wasps could learn to associate a flowery smell with sugary water. We found that female and male wasps have powerful learning and memory abilities, which are important for their daily social lives.