I Shall Become Queen
The Maculinea rebeli caterpillar may seem harmless, but it has the ambition to become Queen of the ants. You might ask me, how can a catepillar become a Queen? Usually when you think about catepillars would you think that they have the slightest bit of intelligence? Do not underestimate these organisms you might be surprised.
Jeremy Thomas of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom believe that chirping play a great role in the ant community. Ants chirp by scraping one of their appendages against the ridges on their posterior. Worker ant chirping are at a lower frequency than queen ant. It is by this particular chirping that lets the worker ants know where their Queen rests. Worker ants become more attentive when the Queen chirps, sort of like ringing a bell for the butler.
Caterpillars may enter an ant colony when having the scent of an ant. Even after accomplishing such a feat it will not be recognized as royalty. By evolution the Maculinea rebeli caterpillar has learned to mimic ants' smell and the sound of the Queen. Knowing how to chirp like a Queen brings the service of the worker ants. As a fake Queen the caterpillar gains free food and safety from predators. Being able to live a blissful life as a pampered Queen.
By: Peter Lau (Wk.2)
posted by PWH @ 11:55 PM
12 comments
12 Comments:
I've heard of the chirping caterpillars can do to attain food from the ants on the outside of the colony, but I didn't think they could exercise that much sway over the brood from the inside. Do you know if they have special pores or glands that secrete pheromones that mimick ant pheromones or do they have to come into physical contact?
[Nathan Beck]
I have heard of caterpillars chirping, but never anything like this. What happens when it comes time for the "queen" to mate? Do the ants know that they have been taking care of an intruder then? Also, what factors make a caterpillar rely so heavily on another species to survive? Are they heavily predated on?
Posted by Maura Mulvey
Peter,
Tricky caterpillars! It’s crazy to think that they can fool one of the smartest insects out there. Aren’t the queens the only fertile females in the colonies? What happens when their “queen” isn’t giving them tiny ant babies? Are there any instances where the ants realize they have been fooled and attack the caterpillar? As humans, finding out someone was just taking advantage of our food and board, we’d throw them out! I wonder if that would even happen.
-Sarah Bello
Funny how that works, huh? Interesting how the caterpillar works to benefit itself. Have there been any studies that show the ants ignoring the fake chirping from the caterpillar or is this something that they usually fall for?
Crystal Cabral
It's great to know that there exists a another world of senses based on chemicals and scent. Imagine if instead of using eye contact and verbal queues we communicated by chemicals and vibration, society wouldn't be the same.
Also: Would it be possible that eventually over time the caterpillars begin reproducing in ant colonies and the two form an even bigger symbiotic relationship?
Conor Stenerson
Wouldn't one think that the ants would think "One of these things does not look like the others"? I know that caterpillars chirp to defend their parts of leaves from other caterpillars, but I had no idea they could figure out how to be a Queen from it! This is interesting! Do you know exactly how the caterpillar makes itself smell like the ants and if any other animal or insect can do this?
Alyson Paige
Peter,
Unlike human beings, ants lack the ability to communicate with other ants through speech. However, communication between ants is facilitated by various movements of the body, such as you stated: “scraping one of their appendages against the ridges on their posterior ants produce a chirp.” Therefore, it seems possible that the caterpillar has evolved to mimic the sound of the Queen ant. However, ants also have eyes. So, how can the ants not decipher the true identity of the intruder?
Saad Choudhry
The Alcon blue butterfly also tricks ants into caring for its caterpillar. What's interesting about this case though, is the Ichneumon eumerus wasp can detect this caterpillar inside the ant's nest. Once this wasps detects the caterpillar, it sprays a substance making the ants attack each other. It then is able to inject the caterpillar with its eggs. After the caterpillar turns into a chrysallis, the wasp larvae break out.
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/01/butterfly-and-w.html
- Julio Rodriguez.
Wow, that's extremely cool - I wonder how the caterpillar began evolving these traits? You'd think evolution of those types of mimicry on a trial and error basis would be pretty difficult if you ended up eaten by ants each time you got it wrong.
(Nicholas Skvir)
Very nice article. It is interesting to see different animals evolve to benefit from other animals. I understand how the caterpillars benefit from food and safety but do the ants gain anything from this relationship? If not, would you think that the ants would eventually some how evolve and be able to distinguish the difference?
-Alex Pavidapha
This was a very interesting article. It reminded me of the bird species that lay their eggs in another birds nest and that mother bird takes care of them. Like the caterpillar, It seems like the "lower" species of insect and bird are more stategical than the homosapien in regards to survival.
(Rachael Carlevale)
I've never heard of anything like this. How long can these caterpillars mimic the queen before the ants realize what is going on?
Shonneau L (3)
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