Question
Download Solution PDFKleptoparasitism refers to
Answer (Detailed Solution Below)
Option 4 : Stealing food from another predator's catch
Detailed Solution
Download Solution PDFThe correct answer is Stealing food from another predator's catch.
Key Points
Kleptoparasitism:
- Kleptoparasitism 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, which can mean when food is scarce or when victims are abundant.
- Many kleptoparasites are arthropods, especially bees and wasps, 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.
- This may be intraspecific, involving stealing from members of the same species, or interspecific, from members of other species.
Therefore, the correct answer is stealing food from another predator's catch.