#laeviuscula — Public Fediverse posts

And now for some more ants! I spent years and years of my life studying wasps but I can't ever find them when I'm holding my camera. But hey, ants are still awesome. The one on the right must have found something delicious as she is sharing it through trophallaxis (aka the kiss of life? do ant experts really use this?) with her sister. I presume these are shiny acrobat ants but would love a correction.

#Insects #Nature #Photography #Ant #Oklahoma #Crematogaster #laeviuscula #InsectInteraction

Beetle #Clytra #laeviuscula (#Chrysomelidae) is #myrmecophilous. Its juveniles carry cases of feces for #antprotection. F. A. Agrain et al. (2015) state that myrmecophily in #leafbeetles only appears in #Clytrini and #Cryptocephalini within #Cryptocephalinae. Numbers of origins of the strategy are unknown, but there were preadaptations as e.g. feces cases.

© This sci-com. text #StefanFWirth 2025

Reference

F. A. Agrain et al. (2015):
https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.547.6098

#Photos
© Me, Bln, new edits 2025