Category: Ant-mimicry
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Ants and aphids
Some species of ants farm aphids, protecting them on the plants where they are feeding, and consuming the honeydew the aphids release from the terminations of their alimentary canals. This is a mutualistic relationship, with these dairying ants milking the aphids by stroking them with their antennae. Dairying ants also milk mealybugs and other insects. Although mutualistic, the feeding behaviour of aphids is altered by…
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Ant-mimicking Orthoptera: Crickets, grasshoppers etc.
Batesian mimicry Young instars of some Orthoptera, such as the bush cricket Macroxiphus sumatranus, have an “uncanny resemblance” to ants, extending to their black coloration, remarkably perfect antlike shape, and convincingly antlike behaviour. Their long antennae are camouflaged to appear short, being black only at the base, and they are vibrated like ant antennae. Larger instars suddenly change into typical-looking…
