Saturday, 11 February 2017

New beetle species poses as an ant's BACKSIDE to catch a ride on the insects

The beetle, Nymphister kronaueri, uses its strong mandibles to anchor itself tightly to the ant's body. It's difficult to spot because it looks just like the ant's abdomen, which is just underneath the beetle  A new species of beetle has been spotted catching a lift on army ants by attaching itself to its backside.
The piggy-backing beetle uses its strong mouth parts to anchor itself to the ant and hitch a ride when moving between nesting sites - and it's almost impossible to spot. 
Relatively little is known about the guest communities of army ants and scientists believe there are more species that still need to be discovered.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4211154/Cheeky-New-beetle-species-poses-ant-s-BACKSIDE.html#ixzz4YNxxdCev
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