Alexis Mosher
Research Mentor: Joseph Caldwell
Mentor Department: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, LSA
Author(s): Alexis Mosher, Joseph Caldwell
Session: Session 4 (1:00 PM – 1:50 PM)
Presentation Type: Poster 99
Abstract
Cognition is defined as the methods by which animals acquire, process, and store information from the environment. These processes are believed to drive important behaviors involved in foraging, mate selection, and predator avoidance. As such, linking cognition to natural behavior is a major goal of behavioral ecologists because it can reveal the costs and benefits of individual variation in cognition. We can reliably measure multiple aspects of animal cognition by using standardized tests in the laboratory. However, it is often logistically challenging to monitor the behavior of individuals over their lifetimes in the wild. Polistes paper wasps provide us an excellent opportunity to link cognition and behavior because of their short lifespans, large social groups, and open nests. Together, these qualities facilitate the study of biologically relevant behavior in the field. Our lab tested over 200 wild wasps on a battery of four cognitive tests in the laboratory, and then returned them to their nests. These wasps were then video recorded on their nests one time each week over their entire lifespan. I helped to review over 400 hours of these on-nest behavioral videos and scored them using a behavioral ethogram (a catalog of behaviors). The ethogram included aggressive, cooperative, and foraging behaviors. Then, I compared individual cognitive test scores to individual counts of natural behaviors to assess the links between cognition and natural behavior. Ultimately, this data informs how cognitive variation influences behavior in wild populations.
