The chemical con trick used by Alcon blue butterfly larvae to get ants to take care of them has been detailed by scientists working in Denmark.The Alcon blue grubs are well known for deceiving the ants into feeding them while letting their own brood starve.
David Nash and colleagues describe in Science Magazine how larval odours mimic those of the ants' own young.
The closer the hydrocarbon chemistry, the more successful the butterfly is in attracting the ants, they report.
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