A guest at the ant nest

Niphanda Fusca is a parasitic butterfly that belongs to the larger family of butterflies called Lycedidae, all of which depend on ants to complete their life cycle. This particular butterfly steals its nutrition from the Japanese Carpenter Ants (Camponotus japonicas) which rear aphids to collect honeydew for their own nutrition. The female butterfly lays an egg on a plant where the ants live.

Usually ants prey on caterpillars, but this caterpillar releases certain chemicals called ‘pheromones’ which are similar to the ant’s own secretions, thus fooling them to believe that it is one of them. The ants carry the caterpillar back to their nest, where they feed it, and it gives them honeydew in return to ensure its own safety.

Once the caterpillar reaches pupal stage, it spins its cocoon at the entrance of the ant nest. The full grown caterpillar then hatches from the cocoon, at which point the ants attack it. But the butterfly’s wings are woolly and not affected by the ant bites, and flies away safely.

It was another busy day at the Ant Nest. Ants were busy scurrying around, carrying food to and fro, taking care of their eggs and babies, and several other errands. The commander-in-chief of the Ant Home was Major Ancy, who stood at the entrance, supervising the goings-on. He shouted instructions from time to time.

“Hey, you— yes, you— have you cleaned the south part of the nest? Well you better, or I’ll have you kicked out in a minute! Mark, buck up— you need to take care of the eggs— And you Nelly— have you milked the aphids yet? No? What are you waiting for? Take your troop and milk them now! Our aphid farms are the most important! No neglecting them!”

The ants who had received the instructions hurried off, and only Nelly hung back. Major Ancy frowned. “Why are you wasting your time here? Get going!” “Umm… I was just wondering… do I really need to do this job? Can’t I be in some other department? Cleaning, taking care of our ant eggs… anything is fine. I don’t like milking the aphids or taking care of our aphid farms…”

Major Ancy gave a sarcastic smile. “You don’t like milking aphids, eh? How about stopping your supply of honeydew then? You definitely don’t seem to have a problem when it comes to gobbling up food!”
Major Ancy and the others were not just any ants— they were Japanese Carpenter Ants who kept farms, quite like humans did farming— farms of plant lice called aphids which sucked out the sap of plants.

The ants brought the aphid eggs home, nursed the young aphid babies when the eggs hatched, and later when they grew up and started feeding on plant sap, they “milked” them for honeydew— by stroking them with their feelers. The honeydew was then collected and eaten by the ants. It was just like men milking cows.

Nelly was quite alarmed. He didn’t want to stop eating honeydew. He sped away without a word. Major Ancy snorted. Lazy ants!

Major Ancy stood around that morning, supervising the aphid eggs that were brought in. Nelly scowled behind Major Ancy’s back. He hardly noticed which eggs he was bringing in. He muttered grumpily under his breath about having to suffer in the aphid care department.

A few days later, Nelly came running to Major Ancy again, half excited and half scared. Some other ants followed him, scared and nervous. “Major, Major… there’s a strange creature that has hatched out of one of the eggs”, he panted. “I don’t think it’s an aphid!” Major Ancy rushed over. There lay a small worm- a caterpillar- hardly wriggling, and lying quite still.

“It’s come to kill us! Aaaaaaaahhhh!!!” cried a hysterical ant, running around in frantic circles. “Run, everyone, it’s a monster!”

“Quiet!” shouted Major Ancy. “Let me see.” Major Ancy went a little closer to the caterpillar. It was hardly moving. Would it eat them up? I’ll never let that happen, thought Major Ancy firmly. They would all circle it and bite it to death!

He went a little closer. “Careful Major, careful”, whispered Nelly apprehensively. The caterpillar suddenly turned over. “Back, Major!” cried the horrified ants. Major Ancy stayed as still as stone, waiting for the caterpillar’s next move. But nothing happened. Major Ancy dared to move forward a little more. Then he sniffed the air. How surprising! The smell seemed to be coming from the caterpillar.

The creature smelt just like one of them! He went even closer. He didn’t feel threatened anymore. Instead, he felt more of parental affection towards the caterpillar! He couldn’t figure out why; the smell seemed to have hypnotized him. He beckoned the other ants to come closer. As they came closer, they came into contact with the same hypnotizing smell.

“Hey! He’s one of us!” cried Nelly. “Yes, he’s just like one of our babies!” said another. “Let’s feed him!” cried another. Major Ancy stood by smiling like an indulgent father while the other ants fed the caterpillar. “Take good care of him!” he barked at the other ants, who seemed happy enough to feed him. It wasn’t long before Nelly called. “Hey, he’s giving us honeydew!” he cried out gleefully.

Major Ancy seemed gratified. “Well, he’s one of us… he’s quite useful; keep him well cared for”, he said.
The other ants had a lovely time competing with each other feeding their special guest who looked different but was one of them. They liked the honeydew they got from him too.

Nelly, too, seemed to have developed an interest in his duties, probably from the novelty of the situation. This went on for a few days, till one day, the caterpillar ate a few aphids from their aphid farm. The report came to Major Ancy.

“Is he still giving honeydew?” said Ancy. “Yes, he is”, said Nelly. “Keep him”, said a tolerant Major Ancy. “Shouldn’t be a problem if he eats a few aphids.” The caterpillar was moving around now, eating up the aphids as and when he could and growing large. He was quite silent though, and his unique smell that identified him as one of the ants kept him safe.

Then one day, at the entrance of the ant home, he started spinning his cocoon. Before the ants could figure out what had happened, the caterpillar was safely enclosed in the cocoon. Nelly was depressed. “I can’t feed him now”, he said morosely to anyone who would listen. Major Ancy wasn’t very bothered. “Oh, he’ll come out fast”, he said.

Some days later, the cocoon started to crack. “My baby’s coming out again!” sang Nelly, sailing around the nest in joy. “Now I can feed him again!”

But the creature that came out was no more a caterpillar. It was a fully grown beautiful butterfly!
Nelly was quite astonished, but quickly recovered. “He’s become even more beautiful!” he raved. But Major Ancy wasn’t that happy. He went closer. The butterfly no longer smelled like one of the ants! “No! This is a traitor! This one has used us!” he cried out.

All the ants rushed forward. The butterfly was preparing to fly away. “He’s getting away! Stop him!” shrieked Major Ancy. But it was too late. The ants which bit at the butterfly’s wings could hardly get at him, and he seemed immune to their bites. He went away flying into the air, his pretty wings fluttering.
The whole of the Ant Nest was in shock for a few days. “Never trust a stranger again”, said Major Ancy darkly.

Many months passed. Then one day, Nelly and a few ants came carrying another caterpillar to the Ant Home. “Major Ancy! Look what we found!” he said, grinning foolishly. Major Ancy sniffed at the motionless caterpillar. “He’s one of us”, he smiled, his face taking on an indulgent look. “Take him in.”