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Science 13 March 1981:
Vol. 211. no. 4487, pp. 1185 - 1187
DOI: 10.1126/science.211.4487.1185
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Articles

Parasitoids as Selective Agents in the Symbiosis Between Lycaenid Butterfly Larvae and Ants

NAOMI E. PIERCE 1 and PAUL S. MEAD 2

1 Museum of Comparative Zoology Laboratories, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
2 Occidental College, Los Angeles, California 90041

The larvae of Glaucopsyche lygdamus (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) secrete substances that attract ants. In two field sites in Colorado, tending ants protect caterpillars of G. lygdamus from attack by braconid and tachinid parasitoids. This protection may have been an important feature in the evolution of the association between lycaenid larvae and ants.

Submitted on March 6, 1980
Revised on November 15, 1980


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Enhancement of Symbioses Between Butterfly Caterpillars and Ants by Vibrational Communication.
P. J. DeVries (1990)
Science 248, 1104-1106
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Treehoppers Transfer Parental Care to Ants: A New Benefit of Mutualism.
C. M. BRISTOW (1983)
Science 220, 532-533
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