Natures wonders: complex fly, parasitized ants and beetles (Introduction)

by David Turell , Monday, September 26, 2016, 18:13 (2978 days ago) @ David Turell

A complex relationship in which flies parasitize ants which are then eaten by beetles:-http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/47103/title/Behavior-Brief/&utm_campaign=NEWSLETTER_TS_The-Scientist-Daily_2016&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=34880620&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--pwrYqY0c2ScK_CpCu8JpfHjbt6ZXWvUVkjXzQ_JnCQ4Q10Uf_i5_8i9XNFTqE7TcYqvyNlTMfMSxQVVpu35NJhZEjzQ&_hsmi=34880620-"Azteca ants (Azteca sericeasur) live on coffee plantations in the south of Mexico, where they're at the center of a complex ecological web.-"Kate Mathis of the University of Arizona and colleagues have been untangling this web for the last six years, starting with an investigation into the phorid flies (Pseudacteon) that parasitize these ants. The team discovered that the flies locate ants by eavesdropping on their communication system, following the scent of an alarm pheromone and then laying eggs inside the ants.-"But phorid flies are not the only ones trying to find the ants. During experiments in which Mathis released alarm pheromones to document the behavior of the flies, tiny beetles (Myrmedonota xipe) kept crowding in on the experiment and causing a nuisance, the scientists found.-"Upon closer investigation, the team realized that the beetles prey upon the parasitized and debilitated ants. In a container full of both healthy and parasitized ants, the researchers watched the beetles go straight for the weaker targets, following the alarm pheromone. “When the beetles tried to attack healthy ants, they were swiftly rebuffed. But when they attacked parasitized ants, the ant essentially stood still as the beetle ate it alive,” Mathias wrote."-Comment: I judge God's help in these situations by looking at the complexity involved. By that standard I think God may have helped the flies learn how to parasitize ants, but the beetles eating behaviour may well be a learned epigenetic instinct.