When food fights back: Cebid primate strategies of larval paper wasp predation and the high‐energy yield of high‐risk foraging.

Article


Barnett, A., Stone, A., Shaw, P., Ronchi-Teles, B., dos Santos-Barnett, T., Pimenta, N., Kinap, N., Spironello, W., Bitencourt, A., Penhorwood, G., Umeed, R., de Oliveira, T., Bezerra, B., Boyle, S., Ross, C. and Wenzel, J. 2023. When food fights back: Cebid primate strategies of larval paper wasp predation and the high‐energy yield of high‐risk foraging. Austral Ecology: A Journal of Ecology in the Southern Hemisphere. 48 (4), pp. 719-742. https://doi.org/10.1111/aec.13287
TypeArticle
TitleWhen food fights back: Cebid primate strategies of larval paper wasp predation and the high‐energy yield of high‐risk foraging.
AuthorsBarnett, A., Stone, A., Shaw, P., Ronchi-Teles, B., dos Santos-Barnett, T., Pimenta, N., Kinap, N., Spironello, W., Bitencourt, A., Penhorwood, G., Umeed, R., de Oliveira, T., Bezerra, B., Boyle, S., Ross, C. and Wenzel, J.
Abstract

Optimal foraging theory predicts that well-defended potential foods should be exploited only when energy pay-offs are great. Although stinging hymenopteran nests are both well-defended and predated by primates, their larvae's energy yields rarely have been calculated, and predation-linked foraging behaviours by primates infrequently documented. Based on 58 opportunistic observations of primates raiding wasp nests for larvae, we calculated energetic yields of low- and high-risk wasp nest predation for Cebus albifrons, Saimiri collinsi, S. sciureus and Sapajus apella, and tested predictions derived from optimal foraging theory. We recorded how nests were processed and by which age-sex classes, eaten nest fragment sizes, number of occupied and empty cells, and nest occupancy patterns (percent larvae/pupae, eggs, empty cells). Basal metabolic rate (BMR) calculations showed energetic yields from 15 min foraging on low-risk nests (Polybia quadricincta) would meet energy needed to sustain adult female and male C. albifrons BMR for 4.9 and 4.5 h, respectively; yields from high-risk (Chartergus artifex) nests for 6.5 and 6.2 h; Mischocyttarus sp. nest yields (low risk, but mimetically resembling other wasps) would meet S. collinsi BMR for 2.9 h (female) and 2.3 h (male), and 2.6 and 2.1 h, for the slightly larger S. sciureus, respectively. The Chartergus energetic-yield value is nearly 20% of a 36 g chocolate bar (741 kJ). Our data provide quantitative support for the common assertion that wasp larvae and pupae are high-yield foods for primates. As predicted by optimal foraging, energetic yield is sufficient to offset the risk and pain of being stung.

KeywordsApoica; Cebus; Chartergus; energetic yield; Mischocyttarus; nest predation; Polybia; risk; Saimiri; Sapajus; wasp
Sustainable Development Goals15 Life on land
Middlesex University ThemeSustainability
Research GroupBehavioural Biology group
PublisherWiley
JournalAustral Ecology: A Journal of Ecology in the Southern Hemisphere
ISSN1442-9985
Electronic1442-9993
Publication dates
Online16 Feb 2023
PrintJun 2023
Publication process dates
Submitted04 Aug 2021
Accepted16 Jan 2023
Deposited13 Feb 2024
Output statusPublished
Accepted author manuscript
File Access Level
Open
Copyright Statement

© The Authors (2023) This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Austral Ecology: A Journal of Ecology in the Southern Hemisphere, Volume 48, Issue 4, Pages 719-742, June 2023. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/aec.13287

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1111/aec.13287
LanguageEnglish
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