>Gossamer-winged butterflies in the family Lycaenidae evolved so that baby caterpillars can use both acoustic and chemical communication to trick ants.
>caterpillars that relied more heavily on ants for survival produced sounds and vibrations that were much more similar to the ants’ sounds than caterpillars that didn’t need the ants’ assistance.
marojejian•1h ago
>Gossamer-winged butterflies in the family Lycaenidae evolved so that baby caterpillars can use both acoustic and chemical communication to trick ants.
>caterpillars that relied more heavily on ants for survival produced sounds and vibrations that were much more similar to the ants’ sounds than caterpillars that didn’t need the ants’ assistance.
paper: Rhythmic Signaling of Ants and Butterflies With Varying Degrees of Myrmecophily https://nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nyas.70...
Also, TIL a new word: "Myrmecophily." Sure will be looking out for opps to use that one.