Chemical camouflage of myrmecophilous cricket Myrmecophilus sp. to be integrated with several ant species

Abstract

When Myrmecophilous species of cricket arc newly introduced to an ant nest, or when the ant colony to which the cricket belongs is disturbed, the cricket is treated in a hostile manner by worker ants in most cases. The cricket escapes ant attack either by swift and nimble running or by using the ant cuticular hydrocarbon components, which serve as the nestmate recognition signal to worker ants. The cricket changes its cuticular hydrocarbon profile frequently according to the ant species it lives with. Lipids on the cricket cuticule mainly consist of hydrocarbons and wax esters, but only the hydrocarbon content decreases when the cricket is isolated from ants, suggesting that the hydrocarbons arc acquired from the ants, it cannot change the cuticular hydrocarbon components. It is believed that the cricket acquires the ant cuticular hydrocarbons by direct contact with ant workers.