Data from: Time perception-based decision making in a parasitoid wasp

The capacity of animals to measure time and adjust their behaviors accordingly has been a topic of interest in vertebrates, but little evidence is currently available for insects. This capacity has yet to be properly investigated in parasitoid wasps, even though they are frequently used to test ecological models. Here, using associative learning between odors and time intervals, we show that the parasitoid wasp Microplitis croceipes (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) has the capacity to measure time. When released in a wind tunnel, females flew toward an odor associated with the time interval they had just experienced. We also found that reducing energy expenditure by restraining parasitoid wasp movement during the training interval prevented time perception. This serves as experimental evidence of time perception in a parasitoid wasp, provides both a rare example of learning associated to a time interval in an insect and a mechanism by which these animals could optimize their behaviors, as well as suggesting a role for energy expenditure in its time perception mechanism.动物感知时间并据此调整行为的能力，在脊椎动物中已得到广泛研究，但目前关于昆虫的相关实验证据仍较为匮乏。尽管寄生蜂（parasitoid wasps）常被用于生态模型的相关测试，但其时间感知能力尚未得到充分探究。本研究借助气味与时间间隔的关联学习范式，证实寄生蜂绒茧蜂（Microplitis croceipes）（膜翅目：茧蜂科）具备时间感知能力。在风洞实验中，雌性成蜂会定向飞向与自身刚经历过的时间间隔相关联的气味源。研究同时发现，在训练阶段通过限制寄生蜂活动以降低能量消耗，会阻断其时间感知过程。本研究不仅为寄生蜂的时间感知能力提供了直接实验证据，也为昆虫类群中罕见的时间间隔关联学习案例提供了研究范例，同时揭示了这类动物优化自身行为的潜在机制，并暗示能量消耗在其时间感知机制中发挥的关键作用。