Cleptobiosis in Social Insects

Table 1

Terminology for food theft, brood theft, brood parasitism, and related phenomena. The term “cleptoparasite” has been used with such diverse meanings that it is probably best dropped from the lexicon for this area.

Term	Function	Example
Cleptobiosis	Theft of food or another item of value from another animal	Gulls [5], honeybees [6], Ectatomma ants [7, 8], bowerbirds (mating display materials) [9]
Lestobiosis	Cleptobiosis by furtive or deceptive means	Ectatomma ants [7, 8]
Nest usurpation	Theft of a nest structure, perhaps including brood or food cached within the nest	Honeybees [6], thrips [10]
Brood parasitism	Laying eggs in the nest of another animal, to be reared by that animal, functionally, this is theft of brood rearing	Cuckoos (birds) [3], cuckoo bees [2]
Dulosis	Theft of brood to rear as workers	“Slave-making” ants [11]
Inquilinism	Living within a social group as a social parasite, a conspecific or heterospecific reproductive that exploits the host colony by laying brood that are cared for by the host colony	Psithyrus bees in bumblebee (Bombus) colonies, Dolichovespula arctica and D. adulterina, (initially inquilines, often become usurpers) in other Dolichovespula colonies [12, 13], numerous ant species within other ant colonies [11]
Guests, myrmecophiles, and termitophiles	Live within a social insect colony, often adopting chemical recognition signature of host colony, may consume resources but do not represent a lethal drain on colony resources	Many species representing many insect orders, as well as noninsects. Specific examples are lycaenid Lepidoptera in ant colonies [14, 15] and wax moths, Galleria mellonella, in honeybee colonies [6]
Parasites	Live within a social insect colony but represent a potentially lethal presence	Varroa mites in honeybee colonies [6]
Brood predation	Eating eggs or brood from within a nest	Corvids (ravens, crows, magpies) consuming other bird’s eggs, army ants, many species of which target brood of other social insects [1]