Defence against predators is fundamental to increasing an organism's fitness. My thesis explores this central theme in behavioural ecology using stingless bees as study organisms. The thesis contains a general introduction (Chapter 1), three data chapters (2-4) and a final discussion (5). Chapter 2 is a comparative study of aggression in nest defence among stingless bee species, and describes a new form of nest defence, suicidal biting, which is most prevalent in the genus Trigona. Chapter 3 describes a remarkable behaviour in Partamona helleri, which crashes head-first when entering its nest. An experiment suggests that this behaviour helps to avoid predation at the nest entrance. Chapter 4 studies nest defence in the hovering guards of Tetragonisca angustula, and demonstrates that through coordinated vigilance, a group level behaviour rarely observed in animals, the ability of the group to detect predators is enhanced.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:751855 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Shackleton, Kyle |
| Publisher | University of Sussex |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/76550/ |
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