Abstract
Butterfly caterpillars in the lycaenid subfamily Miletinae are predators of ant-tended Homoptera, yet they lack specialized secretory and call-production organs crucial to ant association in other lycaenids. Here, we address the question of how miletine caterpillars have invaded the ant–Homoptera symbiosis through a study of the only New World miletine, Feniseca tarquinius, a predator of the wooly aphid Prociphilus tesselatus. Previous interpretations have suggested that F. tarquinius and other miletine caterpillars avoid ant aggression by concealing themselves under silken webs. In contrast, our field data indicate that F. tarquinius caterpillars are less likely to be concealed in the presence of the ants Camponotus pennsylvanicus and Formica obscuriventris than in the absence of ants, although caterpillar and ant behaviors vary between years. Chemical analysis and behavioral assays suggest that chemical camouflage, not physical concealment, is responsible for the ants’ failure to detect and remove F. tarquinius caterpillars from aphid colonies. Analyses by gas chromatography indicate that the cuticular lipid composition of caterpillars are similar to that of their aphid prey, although it varies with prey species. Behavioral assays confirm that solvent extracts of F. tarquinius caterpillars and P. tesselatus aphids evoke similar behavioral responses in C. pennsylvanicus ants. Chemical camouflage is well known in social parasites of ants, but the present study represents one of a few documented cases where chemical deceit is important to interactions with ants outside the nest.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Frank Laib for help with gas chromatography, Dave Kinnamon for access to his property, and Gretchen Meyer and the UWM Field Station for advice, support, and facilities. We acknowledge Samuel Scudder and Henry Edwards for reporting, a century ago, initial observations that inspired this work. This research was supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Graduate School Fellowship.
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Youngsteadt, E., Devries, P.J. The Effects of Ants on the Entomophagous Butterfly Caterpillar Feniseca tarquinius, and the Putative Role of Chemical Camouflage in the Feniseca–Ant Interaction. J Chem Ecol 31, 2091–2109 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-005-6079-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-005-6079-2