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Ants are under attack from outsiders in these intimate photos

These images, taken from new book The Guests of Ants, reveal the behaviour of myrmecophiles, sophisticated organisms from beetles to flies that infiltrate ant colonies to take advantage of them

By Gege Li

10 August 2022

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A histerid beetle (Haeterius ferrugineus) is shown among a brood of Formica ant larvae

Pavel Krásenský

ANTS are known for their remarkably sophisticated colonies, coordinating their behaviours to transform a pile of dirt into a complex structure in as little as a week – but there are other sophisticated organisms out there looking to infiltrate these carefully set up societies.

The invaders, collectively called myrmecophiles, are the topic of The Guests of Ants, a new book by biologist Bert Hölldobler and behavioural ecologist Christina Kwapich. The pair examine the species that disrupt colonies by taking advantage of them, whether by masquerading as ants or manipulating their behaviour.

These images are taken from the book. Above, a histerid beetle (Haeterius ferrugineus) is shown among a brood of Formica ant larvae, which it has been reported to prey on. The beetle has also been seen to solicit regurgitated food from the host ants, attracting their attention by waving its forelegs.

Within minutes of exposing a Pheidole dentata nest, the parasitic phorid flies are so thick they are essentially tripping over each other to attack the ants. Brackenrdige Field Lab, Austin, Texas, USA.

Apocephalus, a type of ant-decapitating fly, shown attacking a soldier Pheidole dentata ant

Pavel Krásenský

Other ant attackers include Apocephalus, a type of ant-decapitating fly, shown attacking a soldier Pheidole dentata ant, and the larva of the moth Ippa conspersa, seen assaulting a worker of a host ant (probably of the species Lasius nipponensis), below.

The larva of Ippa conspersa attacks a worker of the host ant, probably Lasius nipponensis

Larva of the moth Ippa conspersa, seen assaulting a worker of a host ant (probably of the species Lasius nipponensis)

Kyoichi Kinomura

An ant cockroach in the fungus garden of its leafcutter ant host. Laboratory animal at the University of Texas, Austin, Texas, USA. The myrmecophilous cockroach Attaphila fungicola in the fungus garden of Atta texana. Attaphila migrate to new colonies by mounting alate queens and taking a ride with them when the winged queens leave the next for mating flights.

Attaphila fungicola feeds on a colony’s cultured fungus

Alex Wild/alexanderwild.com

Attaphila fungicola, a cockroach that lives in the nests of the Texas leafcutter ant (Atta texana) and rides on winged queens when they leave the nest for mating, feeds on a colony’s cultured fungus in the image above. Below, a Microdon hoverfly larva sits in the nest of the Linepithema oblongum ant. The fly larvae are usually ignored and tolerated by the ants, even as they prey on the ants’ brood of larvae.

FEATURE - The larva of a syrphid Microdon species in the nest of the dolichoderine ant Linepithema oblongum.

Microdon hoverfly larva

Alex Wild/alexanderwild.com

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