A hoverfly species from the Burren uses a chemical disguise to trick its way into ant nests. Emma Napper reports. A hoverfly species from the Burren uses a chemical disguise to trick its way into ...

"The butterfly gets into the ant nest by mimicking the surface hydrocarbons, ... Hoverfly. This harmless flying insect lookssuperficially like a wasp.

Results from the 2006 study showed that the presence of the parasitic hoverfly reduces ant larvae numbers, thereby increasing the share of food available for each surviving larva including the ...

Ant colonies exposed to the pathogen dug nests faster and initially made more tunnels than healthy colonies, and after six days, had made several structural modifications, including spacing ...

Ant larvae are fighters. When ant nests are invaded by parasitic ants that hope to wipe out the original residents, larvae may try to protect their family by eating the invaders’ eggs.

To get to the bottom of this mystery, Czaczkes and his colleagues made 21 mini-nests for around 150 to 300 Lasius niger ants and watched them go about their business.

IT’S an unusual living arrangement: a massive black ant shares its nest with a much smaller brown ant. Most social insects don’t tolerate strangers. But the 15-millimetre-long Platythyrea ...

Andiyan, 36, snaps away as the ants go about their day-to-day lives in Cibinong Village, Indonesia. He said: 'I observe the amazing behaviour of the ants under the mango tree almost every day.