Read the article here.
Some animals are just not made to be parents. This is the case of the Maculina rebeli of the European meadows, a species of butterfly who just cannot be bothered to bring up its offspring. Instead, it gives the responsibility to a species of ants (Myrmica schencki).
The pupae of this butterfly have developed a unique set of tricks that fool the ants into raising them. They emit a scent that mimics the ants' smell and gets the ants to welcome it into the nest. The nurse ants that care for the ant larvae also take care of the pupae of the butterfly just as if it were one of their own. The butterfly pupae even learn how to beg for food like the ant larvae.
But it does not stop there. The pupae even demand special treatment. The queen ants make subtle sounds that let the worker ants know of their high status. The pupae have learned to mimic these sounds as well as the ant smell. This gives them as high of a status as a queen ant. If the nest is disturbed, the pupae are the first to be rescued. If there is a food shortage, the pupae's status ensures it a meal, in the form of murdered ant larvae personally killed by the nurse ants. In an experiment, a pupa was put in the same area as a queen ant (normally they would not encounter each other in the nest) with some worker ants. The worker ants ignored their own queen in favor of the pupa's signal. They attacked and killed their own queen.
The tools that the butterfly pupae possess successfully trick the ants into raising them as their own. They are fed, protected, and treated as queens. In this way, they successfully grow up to be viable adult butterflies.
-Tricia Carlson (week 4)
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this is really fascinating, I didn't realize bugs could be so interesting, its also neat how they outsource the upbringing to ants, I never knew that or would've even looked into it, but it was a really cool thing to read about. I think it may have been helpful if you went more in depth about how this relates to communication.
ReplyDelete--gina fortunato^^^
ReplyDeleteI found this to be quite interesting how a different species such as ants can communicate and understand the butterfly pupae so well. Did the article say where these species of ants and butterflies lived? I would be interested to know where they are located.
ReplyDelete-Kathleen Goller
This is so cool! It is so interesting that the butterflies have learn to mimic the ants. I wonder how long it took for this mechanism to arise? I think it is interesting that the ants do not notice the size difference in the pupae/larvae, unless they are the same size. What species of ants take care of the butterfly larvae? Great article!
ReplyDeleteSara Ku
This is very interesting, there are surprises everywhere in nature. Did the article mention who in particular was studying this correlation? Also, was the chemical involved in the trickery isolated and tested to find the similarities, and was it found that the two signals are exactly the same?
ReplyDeletePosted by Bethany Rappleyea
This was a really interesting study. Did the article mention if this was the only butterfly species that did this, or are there other bugs that do this? I have heard of birds that lay their eggs in other birds nests, but never anything like this.
ReplyDeletePosted by Heather Gore
This is so amazing! I never heard of this...Great find! I wonder if the mother of these pupae knew that the ants would take care of their offspring in such amazing ways. Do any other butterflies exhibit this type of behavior? What happens when the ants figure out what they were doing? Do they figure it out and learn not to do it (obviously not)...then why? Good job!
ReplyDelete-Alyson Paige
This post is extremely interesting. its fascinating to me that the butterfly's have developed such a unique set of tricks that fool these ants into raising them. i also found it fascinating that The butterfly pupae even learn how to beg for food like the ant larvae, and then grow into butterfly's. i am still a little confused about the worker ants ignore there queen and for the butterfly and eventually kill the queen?
ReplyDelete-Stephen Chiricosta