ORIENTATION FLIGHTS OF SOLITARY WASPS (CERCERIS, SPHECIDAE, HYMENOPTERA) .2. SIMILARITIES BETWEEN ORIENTATION AND RETURN FLIGHTS AND THE USE OF MOTION PARALLAX

Cerceris wasps learn the position of their nest relative to landmarks during the performance of orientation flights. This paper examines the similarities that exist between an orientation flight made on departing from the nest and the subsequent return flight to the nest area. Returning wasps do not exactly retrace the paths they have flown during the preceding orientation flight. But there are striking similarities: in both types of flight wasps face into similar directions and their orientation depends on their position relative to nest and landmarks in a similar way. During both orientation flights and returns wasps fly along arcs while counter-turning at similar angular velocities. In both flights their flight direction and the retinal position of close landmarks are similar. Wasps on their return thus experience much the same spatio-temporal pattern of visual stimulation on their retina as they generated during their previous orientation flight. To discover whether wasps exploit the motion parallax information produced by these flights, the arrangement and size of landmarks was altered between the insects' departure and their return. Their search pattern for the hidden nest indicates (i) that they weight close landmarks more heavily than distant ones and (ii) that they frequently search at the appropriate distance from a landmark regardless of its apparent size. Both findings imply that returning wasps recall the patterns of visual motion produced during their orientation flights.