Today the theme at Life Photo Meme at Adventures of a Free Range Urban Primate blog is “Honor an Invert.” We love a particular invertebrate group here at Wild About Ants…
…so why are we showing butterflies?
Do these butterflies have anything to tell us about the importance of ants?
ok… so what DO these butterflies tell us about the importance of ants?
I know! Those are lycaenid butterflies, and their larvae often somehow or another are associated with ants. Some provide their particular species of ant with sugary secretions from a gland on their backside in exchange for protection, while others are predators of ant larvae inside the ant nests.
I’m not an expert, just happened to know.
Yes, you’ve got it. That’s why I put them in a blog about ants.
If you are interested in learning more, I just looked into this in greater depth at http://blog.wildaboutants.com/2010/01/10/ants-and-blue-butterflies/