Natures wonders beetle lives and eats larvae in an ant nest (Introduction)

by David Turell , Friday, January 18, 2019, 22:46 (2134 days ago) @ David Turell

A neat arrangement of life for the beetle:

https://cosmosmagazine.com/biology/meet-the-beetle-that-lives-and-eats-in-ant-nests

"Living off ants is not unknown. Indeed, it even has a name: myrmecophily.

"Beetles in the Paussus genus, aptly named ant nest beetles, are the recognised poster-insects for the process. They live inside the nests of their prey, and have a wide range of morphological, chemical and acoustical adaptations for this lifestyle.

"Essentially, it adds up to a somewhat nefarious combination of suitable armour, pheromone trickery and even the production of attractive substances as a form of bribe. The nearly immobile Paussus larvae lie around in their chosen ant nests, and feed simply by leaning over and sucking the juices from their neighbouring ant brood.

***

"Essentially, it adds up to a somewhat nefarious combination of suitable armour, pheromone trickery and even the production of attractive substances as a form of bribe. The nearly immobile Paussus larvae lie around in their chosen ant nests, and feed simply by leaning over and sucking the juices from their neighbouring ant brood.

***

"The beetles live in riparian oak woodland in Arizona, and are rarely seen. Over the past two decades, only six specimens of Ozaena lemoulti have been collected by the lead author. Ozaena samples collected included a live adult female who laid a single egg which subsequently hatched.

"Moore and Di Guilio’s examination of the first instar larva of O. lemoulti revealed morphological adaptations completely different to other larvae of the Ozaena genus. It had mouthparts similar to those of ant nest beetle larvae, suitable for soft prey, like baby ants. But unlike the nearly immobile ant nest beetle larvae, O. lemoulti had long legs. The researchers hypothesised that the young feed by running around within the ant nest – a previously unknown feeding strategy for ant nest parasite beetles.

"Examination of egg morphology, and comparison with the Goniotropis beetle egg, also suggested O. lemoulti remained in the ant nest environment even at the first stage of life. The egg case lacked the spongy air layer of Goniotropis eggs which protects against extreme weather conditions. It is thus well suited to the humid environment of the nest.

"The gut sampling of O. lemoulti adults revealed that the beetles appear to exclusively feed on ant fluids, unlike Goniotropis adults – and just like the ant nest beetles."

Comment: It is surprising the ants with the live-in beetles have accepted them so completely. The beetles must have marvelous defenses if they were battled by the ants in the beginning. Each beetle species is well adapted to its lifestyle