Steve Jenkins & Robin Page by How to Clean a Hippopotamus: A Look at Unusual Animal Partnerships

Author:How to Clean a Hippopotamus: A Look at Unusual Animal Partnerships
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Juvenile Nonfiction, Animals, Nature, Mammals, Life Sciences, General, Science, Zoology, Reptiles & Amphibians
ISBN: 9780547488264
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published: 2010-05-03T05:00:00+00:00

TENDING THE FLOCK.

Thousands of meat ants live together in underground nests.

During the day the ants leave their nest …

… to tend flocks of baby leafhoppers, or nymphs.

As the nymphs feed on plant juices, the ants protect the baby leafhoppers from predators.

The ants stroke the nymphs’ abdomens with their antennae.

In response, the nymphs excrete a drop of sweet liquid called honeydew, which is the ants’ main source of food.

YOU CAN FOOL ALL OF THE ANTS SOME OF THE TIME …

A large, brilliantly colored blue butterfly lays its eggs on a plant growing in a meadow.

The egg hatches into a caterpillar, which begins to eat the leaves of the plant.

Then the caterpillar does a strange thing. It lets go of the plant and drops to the ground.

The meadow floor is a dangerous place for a caterpillar. There are ants and other predatory insects everywhere.

Sure enough, a red ant soon finds the caterpillar and drags it back to its nest.

But the caterpillar has a trick: it produces a chemical that smells like an ant larva. So instead of eating the caterpillar, the ants clean and protect it.

Soon, the caterpillar spins a cocoon and becomes a chrysalis. It continues to fool the ants by making a clicking sound like one the ants themselves make.

The ants believe that they are caring for one of their own.

In return, the caterpillar produces a sweet liquid, which the ants drink. The caterpillar eats some of the ant larvae, but the ants don’t seem to notice.

At last the blue butterfly emerges from its cocoon. It can no longer fool the ants, and it must leave the nest quickly or be killed by its former caretakers.

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