Con-artist butterflies learn to speak like ant royalty

30 October 2014 - 13:57 By Times LIVE
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
Maculinea rebeli pupa in an ant nest.
Maculinea rebeli pupa in an ant nest.
Image: Tartally A, Koschuh A, Varga Z/ Wikipedia/ ZooKeys

Researchers have found that some butterfly species have learned to mimic the sounds of ant queens as caterpillars.

Science reports that in 2009 researchers found that Maculinea caterpillars mimicked the sounds made by Myrmica ants, tricking the insects into taking them into their nests.

They then started the ants' queens, resulting in red carpet treatment that gave them more food, care and protection than the ants' own larvae - even when times were tough.

Now apparently new research, revealed at the 168th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America in Indianapolis, has found that 12 other related species of butterfly can do the same thing, even when they don't actually rely on the ants for food and shelter.

"They suggest that many arthropods may use sound to fool their ant hosts," Science reported.

subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now