Some species of rove beetles live deep inside ant hills, living on the ant eggs and larvae. Ants are well known for their hostility and the rove beetles have developed a system of chemical defence, with large, noxious chemical producing glands on their abdomens to repel ant advances.
Other species of rove beetle take the lifestyle one step further and live in relative harmony with their ant hosts. The rove beetles feed more on dead ants and ant dung and on the general debris in the nest. This benefits the beetle, which gets good, and also the ant, which gets a clean and tidy nest.
The beetles also have a clever trick; they act as drug peddlers for the ants. Rove beetles produce a substance which acts as a kind of drug on the ants. They become intoxicated by it and addicted to it and will offer the rove beetle a meal of regurgitated food in return for a dose.
Other species of rove beetle take the lifestyle one step further and live in relative harmony with their ant hosts. The rove beetles feed more on dead ants and ant dung and on the general debris in the nest. This benefits the beetle, which gets good, and also the ant, which gets a clean and tidy nest.
The beetles also have a clever trick; they act as drug peddlers for the ants. Rove beetles produce a substance which acts as a kind of drug on the ants. They become intoxicated by it and addicted to it and will offer the rove beetle a meal of regurgitated food in return for a dose.