Some caterpillars speak ant by rocking to a beat.
By jiggling like a cellphone receiving a call while on vibrate, the caterpillars cozy up to ants, reaping benefits for them both. The findings, published February 25 in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, suggest that the ability to keep a beat might be more widespread in the animal kingdom than researchers thought.
Many caterpillars in the gossamer-winged butterfly family are “myrmecophilous,” or ant-loving. These larvae have evolved close relationships with ants, including pavement ants, in the genus Tetramorium, and those in the genus Myrmica. The degree and type of relationship varies. Some caterpillars receive food or protection