Abstract
Trophobiont butterfly larvae offer caloric rewards to ants through specialised glands and, in return, gain ant‐derived protection from natural enemies. Thus, from the larva's perspective, the major cost of myrmecophily comprises the reward production. Larvae of the butterflyParrhasius polibetes(Stoll) (Lycaenidae) are facultatively tended by several ant species, which might differ in the intensity of tending behaviour. The performance costs (development time, survival, pupal mass and adult dry mass) ofP. polibetesare examined when tended by two ant species differing in size and foraging strategies (Camponotus melanoticusEmery andCamponotus crassusMayr), along with the corresponding intensity of tending behaviour towards late instars. Untended larvae serve as controls. Larvae tended byC. melanoticustake longer to pupate compared with bothC. crassusand control larvae. By contrast, pupae whose larvae are tended byC. crassusare lighter than control larvae but do not differ from those tended byC. melanoticus. No differences are found in the adult stage, indicating compensation in all cases. Both at short‐ and long‐term scales,C. melanoticustends larvae ofP. polibetesmore intensely thanC. crassus. The increase in tending activity ofC. melanoticuspresumably delays the development time of larvae tended by this ant species. The results of the present study show that tending intensity varies depending on the ant species, and thatP. polibeteshas compensatory mechanisms to minimise myrmecophily costs, regardless of tending intensity. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first experimental evidence that intensity of ant‐tending behaviour is species‐specific and affects performance in a trophobiont insect.
Published Version
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