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Video: Lomehuza. The one that parasitizes the ants
2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55
Lomehuza is a small beetle, about 3 times smaller than the red forest ant. A distinctive feature of Lomehus is that they crawl into anthills and live among ants.
Oddly enough, but ants do not interfere with such behavior at all, moreover, they begin to feed Lomehuza, since she intoxicates them with a narcotic substance. In addition, Lomehuza knows how to ask for food, like ants, she taps her antennae on the head.
Infection of anthills occurs on the roads between neighboring anthills. Ants transport "drug dealer beetles" on their bellies when they leave anthills and create their own families.
Reproduction of lomehuz
The process of development of offspring in Lomehus is the same as in ants: from an egg to an adult. The Lomehuza female produces 100-200 eggs. She lays them next to ant eggs, in appearance they are absolutely identical.
Lomehus larvae have one difference from ant larvae - their abdomens are concave. Already at the stage of the larva, the Lomehuza is able to secrete a narcotic substance and ask for food, so the ants, even recognizing a stranger, continue to take care of him.
Lomehus and their hospitable hosts ants
Adults also live in anthills. Lomehuza does not leave the nest as long as the anthill is able to feed her, thus she eats most of the reserves.
Lomehuza is a close relative of restless beetles. She has learned how to best adapt to the hospitality of her hosts. Lomehuza is small - they reach 5-6 millimeters in length. Her color is reddish-brown. The wings are short and shiny.
The yellow setae of Lomehus are called trichomes. They are located on the sides of the first segments of the abdomen. Many insects that live in anthills have similar trichomes, they are found in various parts of the body. For example, the white-eyed beetle, which settles in the nests of meadow red ants, has trichomes on the elytra. And in some beetles, they are located on the antennae.
Beneath the trichomes are glands in the skin that produce an aromatic fluid called exudate. This substance is chemically close to ethers. Ants hunt for exudate.
Vasman said that ants' addiction to exudate is as strong as a person's addiction to alcohol and smoking. And ants, as well as people, die when they are excessively carried away by these harmful substances.
But some modern scientists believe that from exudates ants get not a "intoxicating effect", but vitamins or other substances necessary for development.
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