Poor adult nutrition impairs learning and memory in a parasitoid wasp

Abstract

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. Newly emerged adults were exposed for 24h to either honey, sucrose solution 20%, sucrose solution 10%, or no food, before being conditioned in an olfactory associative learning task in which an odor (orange) was associated to a reward (host larvae). Wasps fed honey showed 3.5 times higher learning performances and 1.5 times longer memory retention times than wasps fed sucrose solutions and starved wasps. Poor diets also reduced longevity and fecundity. Our results demonstrate the importance of early adult nutrition for optimal cognitive function in these parasitoid wasps that must quickly develop olfactory memories for choosing high quality hosts for their progeny.