Wasps robbing food from ants: a frequent behavior?

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Animal Behavior
• Entomology

Background:

• Cleptobiosis, or food robbing, is a documented behavior across the animal kingdom.
• Intrafamilial food robbing is known in ants, but interspecific food robbing by social wasps from ants has not been previously reported.
• Myrmecophytes are plants that host ant colonies, often in a mutualistic relationship.

Purpose of the Study:

• To document and describe instances of social wasps robbing food from ants.
• To investigate the interactions between social wasps and ants, particularly in the context of myrmecophytes.
• To assess the frequency and methods of food robbing by wasps from ants.

Main Methods:

• Observation of two distinct cases of food robbing by social wasps from ant colonies.
• Documentation of the specific wasp and ant species involved, along with their associated myrmecophytes.
• Analysis of the behavioral strategies employed by wasps during food robbing, including timing and group coordination.

Main Results:

• Two cases are presented: Polybioides tabida wasps robbing prey from Tetraponera aethiops ants associated with Barteria fistulosa, and Charterginus wasps robbing food bodies from Cecropia myrmecophytes exploited by Azteca ants.
• Wasps employed various strategies, including robbing when ants were inactive, avoiding contact with active ants, and using coordinated group efforts to distract or immobilize ants.
• The observed interactions suggest that wasp-ant food robbing may be more common than previously recognized.

Conclusions:

• Social wasps exhibit cleptobiotic behavior towards ants, a novel finding in the Vespidae family.
• These interactions highlight complex ecological relationships between social wasps, ants, and myrmecophytic plants.
• The study suggests that further research may reveal a broader prevalence of such interspecific food robbing in insect communities.