Certain species of digger wasps will dig a central channel straight down underground. After that they will dig a chamber off to the side where they will leave a cricket they have paralyzed to feed developing larvae. After the wasp hunts and captures a cricket, she paralyzes it and brings it back to the burrow. She will leave it a fixed distance from the burrow entrance and go down in her burrow to inspect the chamber one more time before bringing the cricket down. If an observer moves the cricket any distance from where she left it, she will place it at the same fixed distance from the burrow entrance and again go down to inspect the chamber before going back up to retrieve the cricket. This can go on for many iterations. This pattern of behavior is BEST described as a:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This behavior of the digger wasp is a fixed action pattern because it is a sequence of innate behaviors that is triggered by a specific stimulus (finding the paralyzed cricket). The wasp will repeat this entire sequence of behaviors even if the stimulus (the cricket) is moved from its original position. This behavior is not learned or influenced through operant conditioning. It also does not involve a supernormal stimulus.

Certain Species of Digger Wasps Will Dig a Central Channel