Fooled ants 'adopt' rare butterflies


	Fooled ants 'adopt' rare butterflies

mickfinn

1-6-2008 7:04 AM

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tags:

nature, parasite

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/5b03fed1-456c-49cb-a54e-9dcc732dd93b/CCE578BD-2FBC-48E5-8EAC-106F36939FCB/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/080103-ants-butterflies.html" href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/080103-ants-butterflies.html" style="font-size: 11px;">news.nationalgeographic.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/080103-ants-butterflies.html"><div align="center"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/news.nationalgeographic.com/img/AE325AE6-A4E0-48BF-ACF9-C43742D883EA" alt="Alcon blue bytterfly and ant pictures" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/080103-ants-butterflies.html">Fans of Aesop know that hard-working <A href="http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/ant.html">ants</A> are fabled targets for freeloading parasites</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/080103-ants-butterflies.html">
But a new study of the ant species <I>Myrmica rubra</I> shows that sometimes the tiny laborers fight back, triggering a co-evolutionary arms race that can catch related species in the crossfire</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/080103-ants-butterflies.html">
In parts of Denmark, Alcon blue butterflies lay their eggs on marsh plants (left) near <I>M. rubra</I> colonies. When the larvae hatch, their outer layers mimic the hydrocarbon chemistry of the ants' cuticles</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/080103-ants-butterflies.html">
The trick fools foraging ants into thinking the caterpillars are their own young, so they carry the parasites into their nests (right). The butterfly larvae are then cared for at the expense of actual ant babies</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/080103-ants-butterflies.html">Alcon blue butterflies that best matched a colony's unique signature were the most successful at infiltrating the nests</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/080103-ants-butterflies.html">
This suggests that as the ants evolve their cuticles so that they can better recognize larval parasites, the butterflies counterattack with a more refined chemical cocktail</blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/CCE578BD-2FBC-48E5-8EAC-106F36939FCB/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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