Gastral drumming (GD) is a type of vibrational communication that has been reported in several species of yellowjackets and hornets. Despite early claims that it acts as a hunger signal, a more recent study found evidence that it acts as a nest-based food-recruitment signal, the first reported for eusocial wasps. Early studies also claimed, without supporting data, that it is produced most often in the early morning hours when the sun rises. Here, I recorded drumming continuously in colonies of Vespula germanica (Fabricius) to assess whether production was highest in the morning. Although I found no evidence in support of greater early morning production, I found, surprisingly, that it is produced at night, a time when foraging does not occur. When these results are combined with the results from previous studies on this species and similar findings in honey bees, they suggest that GD may be a modulatory signal, which acts by increasing general activity levels and by increasing the rate that individuals come into contact with social cues.

中文翻译：

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Vespula Germanica（膜翅目：Vespidae）的胃鼓：夜间的振动交流表明在殖民地组织中的其他作用。

胃鼓（GD）是一种振动交流，已在几种黄夹克和大黄蜂中报道。尽管早期声称它是一种饥饿信号，但最近的一项研究发现证据表明它是一种基于巢穴的食物招募信号，这是首次报道的真社会黄蜂。早期的研究还声称，在没有支持数据的情况下，它最常在太阳升起的清晨产生。在这里，我在 Vespula Germanica (Fabricius) 的群落中连续记录了鼓声，以评估早上的产量是否最高。虽然我没有发现任何证据支持清晨的产量更高，但令人惊讶的是，我发现它是在晚上产生的，而这个时间不会发生觅食。