Back دغريات Arabic Клептопаразитизъм Bulgarian Cleptoparasitisme Catalan Kleptoparazitismus Czech Kleptoparasitisme Danish Kleptoparasitismus German Kleptoparazitado Esperanto Cleptoparasitismo Spanish طعمهدزدی Persian Cleptoparasitisme French
Kleptoparasitism (originally spelt clepto-parasitism,[1][2] meaning "parasitism by theft") is a form of feeding in which one animal deliberately takes food from another. The strategy is evolutionarily stable when stealing is less costly than direct feeding, such as when food is scarce or when victims are abundant. Many kleptoparasites are arthropods, especially bees and wasps, but including some true flies, dung beetles, bugs, and spiders. Cuckoo bees are specialized kleptoparasites which lay their eggs either on the pollen masses made by other bees, or on the insect hosts of parasitoid wasps. They are an instance of Emery's rule, which states that insect social parasites tend to be closely related to their hosts. The behavior occurs, too, in vertebrates including birds such as skuas, which persistently chase other seabirds until they disgorge their food, and carnivorous mammals such as spotted hyenas and lions. Other species opportunistically indulge in kleptoparasitism.
- ^ Rothschild, M.; Clay, T. (1957). Fleas, Flukes and Cuckoos. A study of bird parasites. New York: Macmillan. p. 10.
- ^ Proffitt, M., ed. (1997). "kleptoparasitism". Oxford English Dictionary. Additions Series. Vol. 3. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-19-860027-5.