You searched for: “kleptobiosis
cleptobiosis, kleptobiosis (s) (noun); cleptobioses, kleptobioses (pl)
1. An association whereby one species regularly forages upon the food stores of another species, but otherwise does not associate with it.
2. Stealing, or robbing, food from other living creatures.
3. A form of symbiosis based on theft, best known in ants in which one species will systematically steal the collected food of another laboring species.
This entry is located in the following unit: klept-, klepto-, -kleptic; clepto-, clept-, -clepty, -cleptic (page 1)
kleptobiosis, cleptobiosis (s) (noun); kleptobioses, cleptobioses (pl)
Among ants and certain other social insects, an association in which a small species feeds on the refuse of a neighboring nest inhabited by a larger species, or robs returning workers of the host species of the food they are carrying.