{"id":207587,"date":"2026-04-23T19:55:37","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T19:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/207587\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T19:55:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T19:55:37","slug":"these-parasitic-caterpillars-trick-ants-and-get-treated-like-queens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/207587\/","title":{"rendered":"These Parasitic Caterpillars Trick Ants and Get Treated Like Queens"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ant<\/a>An ant caring for a caterpillar. Image credits: Daniel Sanchez\/University of Warwick<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Soft and defenseless, these baby caterpillars are pulling off the ultimate high-stakes heist. They don\u2019t just sneak into an ant colony, they convince the entire nest to treat them like queens. The ants carry them, feed them the best food, and even prioritize their rescue during emergencies.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the ultimate heist. New research shows that parasitic caterpillars infiltrate an ant colony not just through chemical trickery, but also by mastering the queen\u2019s specific musical rhythm.<\/p>\n

For years, researchers thought they do it through a chemistry trick, by smelling like the queens. But a new study shows it\u2019s not just smell. Caterpillars have also mastered<\/a> the sounds and rhythm produced by a queen ant.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn order not only to fool the ants, but to achieve a high social status in the colony hierarchy, they (caterpillars) are emitting sounds that are queen-like,\u201d Francesca Barbero, one of the study authors and an associate professor at the University of Turin, told<\/a> Refractor.<\/p>\n

The sound of a queen<\/p>\n

This relationship is known as myrmecophily, and for many butterfly larvae, it\u2019s a matter of life or death. If the ants don\u2019t adopt them, the caterpillars simply won\u2019t survive. But how does does a larva<\/a> trick an entire species?<\/p>\n

Earlier research from 2009<\/a> answered a part of this mystery. It showed that queen ants produce distinct sounds compared to workers. When these queen-like sounds were played back in colonies, workers responded with extra care and protection.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some caterpillars, such as those from the Maculinea group, were already known to mimic these sounds to gain similar benefits. However, the sounds are only half th battle.<\/p>\n

The new study focused on the rhythm.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Decoding the hidden rhythm\u00a0<\/p>\n

The study authors recorded vibrations from two ant species and nine butterfly species using a highly sensitive, custom-built device capable of detecting tiny substrate-borne signals\u2014the kind ants and caterpillars use to talk through surfaces.<\/p>\n

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What they found was surprisingly systematic. All species, even those that don\u2019t rely on ants, produced signals with a regular rhythm, with beats occurring at evenly spaced intervals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, only the most ant-dependent caterpillars went a step further<\/a>. They produced a more complex pattern known as a double meter\u2014a layered rhythm that closely matches the queen ant\u2019s signal.<\/p>\n

Simply put, the queen ants produce a very specific rhythm, and the caterpillars are capable of mimicking it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe higher the level of myrmecophily, the more complex the signal, and this complexity is achieved through a specific rhythmic pattern. This complexity in the rhythm is the first time, to my best knowledge, that has been recorded outside the primates,\u201d Barbero said.<\/p>\n

Species like Phengaris alcon and Plebejus argus have perfected the whole mechanism. They start by matching the queen\u2019s chemical scent and then reproducig her rhythmic signature with remarkable precision.\u00a0This is enough to trick most ants and the result is that worker ants treat them as high-ranking members of the colony, even though these caterpillars often repay the favor by eating the ants\u2019 own larvae.<\/p>\n

Do other species show similar behavior?<\/p>\n

Interestingly, the caterpillars are also efficient liars. Producing these vibrations is exhausting, so they don\u2019t \u201cspeak\u201d all the time. Instead, they wait for the perfect moment to chime in, ensuring their deception is both accurate and energy-efficient.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese findings highlight the role of temporal patterning in vibroacoustic communication, influencing signal efficiency and recognition in ant\u2013butterfly interactions,\u201d the study authors said.<\/p>\n

There are still limitations to the study. For instance, it focuses on a limited number of species<\/a>, and while the correlation between rhythm complexity and social status is strong, proving direct causation will require further experiments\u2014such as manipulating rhythms and observing how ants respond.<\/p>\n

But this discovery opens up a new world of questions. Have we been overlooking acoustic communication in the insect world? While the study was limited to a few species, the team plans to investigate if other organisms are using similar rhythmic tricks to hack their way up the social ladder.<\/p>\n

The study<\/a> is published in the journal Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An ant caring for a caterpillar. Image credits: Daniel Sanchez\/University of Warwick. Soft and defenseless, these baby caterpillars…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207588,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[60254,79237,9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":{"0":"post-207587","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-ant-colonies","9":"tag-caterpillar","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-city","12":"tag-nyc","13":"tag-queens","14":"tag-queens-headlines","15":"tag-queens-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207587\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}