Dataset Nasonia strains

Strain differences rather than species differences contribute to variation in associative learning ability in Nasonia

Maartje Liefting1,2, Lisa Verwoerd3, Myrthe L. Dekker4, Katja M. Hoedjes5, Jacintha Ellers2

1 Applied Zoology/Animal Ecology, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

2 Animal Ecology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands

3 Athena Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands

4 Experimental Zoology Group, Wageningen University, The Netherlands

5 Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Switzerland

All behavioural data was collected in the lab. The used variables in the csv file are:

strain:                  the original names as used in the literature of the 4 different strains included in the experiments (HVRx, Ngmix, AsymCx, RV2xU)

stimulus:              the modality of the conditioned stimulus (vis or olf for visual or olfactory)

time_h:                number of hours after conditioning when memory retention was measured

PI:                         performance index, a measure for memory retention based on the distribution of a group of wasps in the T=maze or olfactometer. A PI can theoretically vary from -100 (perfect avoidance) to 100 (perfect preference) with a score of 0 indicating no learned preferences. See manuscript for details on how a PI is calculated

species:                the two species considered (Nv = Nasonia vitripennis and Ng = Nasonia giraulti)

genback:              the genetic background of the strains used, either isogenic (iso) or genetically diverse (div)

The data on memory retention after odour conditioning of the AsymCx (Nv iso) and RV2xU (Ng iso) strains has been published in:

Hoedjes KM, Steidle JLM, Werren JH, Vet LEM, Smid HM. 2012 High-throughput olfactory conditioning and memory retention test show variation in Nasonia parasitic wasps. Genes, Brain Behav. 11, 879–887. (doi:10.1111/j.1601-183X.2012.00823.x)