ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors show that ritualized antennal movements play an important role in food solicitation and reinforcement or refusal of regurgitations in Paravespula germanica and Paravespula vulgaris, and also in the domestic bee. However the existence of ritualized antennal patterns in the domestic bee and in Paravespula Wasps has perhaps enabled them to "recognize" more easely the presence of foreign species and to reject these species. All the studies show that the ritualized antennal movements of the worker in the soliciting position play an essential role in the establishing of the contact with another worker and the releasing and the reinforcing of regurgitations by the solicited bee. The authors found that the males which had complete antennae received 7% of the total quantity of the food that was taken during one hour by the workers whereas the workers put in the same conditions received from 16.8% to 39% at least when they were older than 2 days.
