Ants and larvae
Ants and larvae
We know that the larvae of lycaenids secrete sugar to attract ants, which then protect the larvae, but how do other butterfly larvae interact with ants? I would expect ants would look upon the average caterpillar as a nice meal, but I have noticed a couple of cases where plants used by butterfly larvae are highly used by ants, which ought to make the larvae very vulnerable to predation. I notice the flowers and seed-heads of many garlic mustard plants, where orange-tip larvae ar to be found are investigated in detail by ants. On another site with a strong population of grizzled skippers, most of the available foodplant was growing on the tops of mounds made by the meadow ant, Lasius flavus. I can understand that the mounds will be slightly warmer than the surrounding habitat, so making a good microclimate for egglaying, but surely the eggs and larvae will simply be eaten?