Kleptoparasitism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kleptoparasitism or cleptoparasitism (literally, parasitism by theft) is a form of feeding where one animal takes prey from another that has caught, killed, or otherwise prepared it, including stored food provisions, as in the case of cuckoo bees, which lay their eggs on the pollen masses made by other bees. Kleptoparasitism is also 'stealing' nest material or other inanimate objects from one animal by another.
The kleptoparasite gains either by obtaining prey or other objects that it could not obtain itself, or by saving the time and effort required to obtain it. However, the kleptoparasite may run the risk of injury from the victim if it is able to defend its prey.
Kleptoparasitism may be intraspecific, where the parasite is the same species as the victim, or interspecific, where the parasite is a different species. In the latter case, the parasites are commonly close relatives of the organisms they parasitize ("Emery's Rule").
Animals that have unusual feeding methods often suffer kleptoparasitism. For example, oystercatchers are unusual in being able to break through the shells of mussels; adult oystercatchers suffer intraspecific kleptoparasitism from juveniles that are not yet strong or skillful enough to open mussels easily. Diving birds that bring their prey to the surface suffer interspecific kleptoparasitism from gulls, which are unable to fetch fish from the sea floor themselves.
Contents |
[edit] Bees and Wasps
There are many different lineages of cuckoo bees, all of which lay their eggs in the nest cells of other bees, and a family of cuckoo wasps also exists, many of which lay their eggs in the nests of potter and mud dauber wasps; many other lineages of wasps in various families have evolved similar habits. These insects are normally referred to as "cleptoparasites," rather than as "brood parasites." The distinction is that the term "brood parasite" is generally restricted to cases where the immature parasite is fed directly by the adult of the host, and raised as the host's offspring (as is common in birds). Such cases are virtually unknown in bees and wasps, which tend to provide all of the food for the larva before the egg is laid; in only a few exceptional cases (such as parasitic bumblebees) will a bee or wasp female actively feed a larva that is not her own species. The difference is only in the nature of the interaction by which the transfer of resources occurs (tricking a host into handing over food rather than stealing it by force or stealth), which is why brood parasitism is considered a special form of kleptoparasitism.
[edit] Spiders
Kleptoparasitic spiders, which steal or feed on prey captured by other spiders, are known to occur in five families:
- Theridiidae (Argyrodes species)
- Dictynidae (Archaeodictyna ulova)
- Salticidae (species of Portia and Simaetha)
- Symphytognathidae (Curimagua bayano)
- Mysmenidae (Isela okuncana, Kilifia inquilina, and Mysmenopsis species).[1]
[edit] Flies
Some flies are kleptoparasites. This includes several flies of the Chloropidae and Milichiidae families. Some adult milichiids, for example, visit spider webs where they scavenge on half-eaten stink bugs. Others are associated with robber flies (Asilidae). Flies in the genus Bengalia (Calliphoridae) steal food and pupae transported by ants and are often found beside the foraging trails of ants.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Coyl, F.A., O'Shields, T.C. & Perlmutter, D.G. (1991). Observations on the behaviour of the kleptoparasitic spider, Mysmenopsis furtiva (Araneae, Mysmenidae). Journal of Arachnology, 19, 62–66. PDF
- ^ Sivinski, J., S. Marshall and E. Petersson (1999) Kleptoparasitism and phoresy in the diptera. Florida Entomologist 82(2) [1]
