Novel Description of Stingless Bee (Tetragonisca angustula) Mobbing Defense Against Newly Observed Bullet Ant (Paraponera clavata) Predation

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-1-2025

School

Biological, Environmental, and Earth Sciences

Abstract

Tetragonisca angustula (Apidae: Meliponini) is a neotropical stingless bee with a morphologically distinct soldier subcaste and well-described defense strategies against aerial threats, such as raiding bees. How T. angustula defends against cursorial intruders has largely been assumed to be via passive defense strategies, such as the construction and modification of resinous nest entrances to trap or deter arthropod invaders. Cursorial arthropod intruders are rarely documented for T. angustula, nor stingless bees in general. In this note, we describe multiple observations of bullet ants, Paraponera clavata (Formicidae: Paraponerinae), engaged in ambush predation of bees at multiple T. angustula colonies in Costa Rica during 2022 and 2023. Tetragonisca angustula was also observed mobbing P. clavata following some of these predation attempts. Neither behavior has been previously reported in the literature for either species. These observations suggest the existence of a range of behavioral interactions between ants and stingless bees that have been previously overlooked. (A version of this abstract in Spanish is available in the online Supplementary Information).

Publication Title

Journal of Insect Behavior

Volume

38

Issue

2

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