Caught red-handed: Behaviour of brood thieves in an Indian ant

Abstract

Theft of resources is ubiquitous in the animal kingdom. An evolutionary arms race between thieves and their victims is expected. Although several studies have documented inter- and intraspecific theft of resources in different taxa, studies that delve into the behaviour of thieves and the factors that influence their behaviour have not been undertaken. In the current study on the primitively eusocial ant Diacamma indicum, we caught brood thieves red-handed: we observed them in the act of stealing brood and examined their behaviour. Thieves were persistent in their attempts despite facing aggression in the victim colony. Experiencing aggression or failure to steal in the previous attempt negatively impacted a thief’s drive to reattempt. To avoid the risks associated with theft, successful thieves exited from victim nests about three times faster than others who were procuring brood from unguarded nests. In a series of experiments examining factors that caused thieves to increase their exit speed, we found that indirect cues of a foreign colony’s presence, such as odour or the presence of foreign ants, did not induce these changes in thieves. Thus, we conclude that these ant thieves only respond to the direct threat posed by aggressive foreign ants. In this comprehensive study using behavioural experiments, we reveal the simple rules of engagement between victims and brood thieves.