Poor adult nutrition impairs learning and memory in a parasitoid wasp.

Animals have evolved cognitive abilities whose impairment can incur dramatic fitness costs. While malnutrition is known to impact brain development and cognitive functions in vertebrates, little is known in insects whose small brain appears particularly vulnerable to environmental stressors. Here, we investigated the influence of diet quality on learning and memory in the parasitoid wasp Venturia canescens.

Bumblebees adjust protein and lipid collection rules to the presence of brood.

Animals have evolved foraging strategies to acquire blends of nutrients that maximize fitness traits. In social insects, nutrient regulation is complicated by the fact that few individuals, the foragers, must address the divergent nutritional needs of all colony members simultaneously, including other workers, the reproductives, and the brood. Here we used 3D nutritional geometry design to examine how bumblebee workers regulate their collection of 3 major macronutrients in the presence and absence of brood.