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> We show that the two wingless morphs occurring during the root-dwelling phase of the life cycle of the aphid _Paracletus cimiciformis_ follow distinct strategies that entail disparate relationships with ants. On the one hand, the round morph exhibits the plant sap-sucking feeding behavior characteristic of aphids and establishes a typical mutualistic trophobiotic relationship with ants. On the other hand, aphids of the flat morph, although able to feed on plants, are brought inside the ant brood chamber where they are cared for by the ants. Our results show that the latter strategy is accomplished by flat morph aphids by mimicking ant larvae chemical signals and that, besides obtaining ant care, aphids in the brood chamber actively suck hemolymph from ant larvae.
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> […] By being transported by the ants deep into their brood chambers, aphids of the flat morph would be safe from temperature extremes experienced by other root-dwelling aphids that stay closer to the roots to feed. We suggest that lack of access to plants in the brood chamber may have driven the evolution of the ability to use a different food resource (i.e., hemolymph of ant larvae), at least temporarily. The fact that flat morph aphids inside ant nests give rise, when harsh conditions are over, to four morphs representing life history strategies adapted to different temporal and spatial uncertainties…suggests that the flat morph is at the center of a diversified strategy for survival and recolonization of the aphid host plants.

A. Salazar, B. Fürstenau, C. Quero, N. Pérez-Hidalgo, P. Carazo, E. Font, & D. Martínez-Torres, Aggressive mimicry coexists with mutualism in an aphid, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 112 (4) 1101-1106, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1414061112 (2015).  

#entomology #insects #ants #aphids #antstodon #bugstodon #Hymenoptera #Formicidae #Hemiptera #Aphididae