Environment

Butterflies can trick ants into raising them

by Amy Judd | February 6, 2009 at 10:52 am

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The European butterfly Maculina rebeli has learned to raise its young as parasites, so that ants will be tricked into feeding them and giving them special treatment. They give off a scent that mimics the ants so that they can take refuge inside the nests. Once they have done this and are a caterpillar they can steal food from the ant larvae and can even get special treatment - taking it away from the ant larvae.

It turns out that ant queens make subtle sounds that signal their special status to worker ants. The caterpillars have learned to mimic those sounds, the researchers say, earning high enough status to be rescued before others if the nest is disturbed.

In times of food shortage, nurse ants have been known to kill their own larvae and feed them to the caterpillars pretending to be queen ants, they added.

In nature, the real ant queen and the caterpillar keep to different parts of the ant colony and would not encounter one another, the report said.

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AKAmamma

at 13:13 on February 6th, 2009

Those deceitful little things!

blueperfect

at 15:15 on February 6th, 2009

I initially thought these ants were attacking the caterpillar, but as I watched, I realized they actually seemed to be directing and caring for it...a stewardship pf a sort.

blueperfect has contributed a photo to this story.

Rαtαtosk

at 15:31 on February 6th, 2009

Sometimes one insects uses the other and tricks them, other times they live in symbiosis, like some ants in the Amazon where they give protection to the other insect while that insects gives off nectar to the ants.

The world of insects is complex and amazing, especially the ants have very complex structures. Take my photo of the Messor barbarus, which are harvesting ants. Females of this species have red heads. This species lives in desert like environments. They are extremely important as they are the equivalent to worms, aerating the tough/hard soil, where worms can't live. The smallest of the colony is the one that has to travel the farthest away from the nest, closest to the food source. They harvest the food and carry it about half way to the nest where they are met by larger ants from the colony carrying the food the rest of the way home. The small ant turns around and goes back to the food source for more.

Rαtαtosk has contributed a photo to this story.

Alexandr Pospech

at 06:50 on February 7th, 2009

What we can see on this picture is a farm, where ants "breed" another insects, they protect them and have some food in return. Taken in Papua New Guinea during Tropical Ecology course

Alexandr Pospech has contributed a photo to this story.

cactfyl

at 08:39 on February 7th, 2009

These ants were collecting nectar from the fruits and flowers of Cassia bicapsularis "Worley's Butter Cream", where caterpillars of the Cloudless Sulfur butterfly were feeding on the leaves and fruits. The ants on this caterpillar's face couldn't figure out whether he was a part of the plant or something else. The lower ant has his tongue (hypopharynx) out, appearing to taste or smell the caterpillar.
They didn't hurt or attack him.

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Bara Alex

at 18:19 on February 7th, 2009

Pupae in a Lasius Niger nest, brought up for the increased heat under the stone which I removed to take this shot (stone was replaced once picture was shot). The heat lets the ant in the pupae develope faster. Lasius Niger is more commonly known as Black Garden Ant.

Bara Alex has contributed a photo to this story.