Abstract
Caterpillars of the butterfly, Maculinea rebeli, feed sequentially in flower-buds of Gentiana cruciata and in nests of Myrmica schencki ants, with which they have a sort of'cuckoo bird' relationship. Ants feed them in preference to their own larvae, reducing the production of new workers and hence the colony size the following year. Other Myrmica compete with M. schencki for nest-sites. They adopt caterpillars with equal facility, but fail to rear them to maturity and are consequently less damaged. Using a mathematical model we explore how species interactions can influence the populations of the butterfly, M. schencki, and other Myrmica species. The model assumes a 1 ha square of 900 cells with a fixed population of gentians
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