Giant hornet (Vespa soror) attacks trigger frenetic antipredator signalling in honeybee (Apis cerana) colonies.

ABSTRACT: Asian honeybees use an impressive array of strategies to protect nests from hornet attacks, although little is understood about how antipredator signals coordinate defences. We compared vibroacoustic signalling and defensive responses of Apis cerana colonies that were attacked by either the group-hunting giant hornet Vespa soror or the smaller, solitary-hunting hornet Vespa velutina. Apis cerana colonies produced hisses, brief stop signals and longer pipes under hornet-free conditions. However, hornet-attack stimuli-and V. soror workers in particular-triggered dramatic increases in signalling rates within colonies. Soundscapes were cacophonous when V. soror predators were directly outside of nests, in part because of frenetic production of antipred

SUBMITTER: Mattila HR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8580428 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature