Cricket that tricks ants into thinking it's one of them was discovered in Latvia
The cricket species can reproduce without a mate and is believed to produce only females, researchers said.
Photo by Aleksandrs Balodis
A unique species of cricket found only in northern Europe tricks ants into letting them into their nests to live among them, where they then feed on ant eggs and steal food.
Myrmecophilus acervorum, also known as an ant cricket, has now been recorded for the first time in Latvia, making it the northernmost known distribution of the species, according to an April 25 study published in the Journal of Orthoptera Research.
The ant cricket is considered an obligate kleptoparasite, according to the study, meaning it relies entirely on ants for food that it either steals or tricks the ants into sharing.
The crickets feed on ant eggs and prey-collected by the ants, according to the study. Researchers said they also receive nutrients via ant trophallaxis, a process common in social insects such as ants where food is shared from mouth to mouth.
While Myrmecophilus acervorum is known to inhabit the nests of many different ant species, researchers said it seems to prefer Lasius niger, or the black garden ant.
To colonize a new nest, the crickets make themselves chemically indistinguishable from the ants by accumulating molecules called cuticular hydrocarbons taken from the ants themselves. This wax-like substance is used for chemical communication between ants.
By essentially wearing this waxy substance on their own bodies, the crickets reduce ant aggression and are accepted by the ants as a nest-mate, according to the study.
Ant crickets are among the smallest cricket species in the world and have evolved to be about the same size as ants. They lost the ability to fly, hear or produce sound in the process, according to the study.
This physical mimicry is proven to be another defensive advantage for the crickets, researchers said.
Researchers found both female specimens in flooded areas of Riga, one near a river and the other near a lake, according to the study.
Researchers suspect the Myrmecophilus acervorum in Latvia are reproducing through a process called thelytoky parthenogenesis, 'where females asexually produce only female offspring,' the study said.
According to the study, the species is possibly being driven north due to climate change, or it had 'long been overlooked [in the region] due to its small body and cryptic lifestyle.'
The research team included Aleksandrs Balodis, Rūta Starka and Dmitry Telnov.
Lauren Liebhaber
mcclatchy-newsroom Go to X Email this person
Lauren Liebhaber covers international science news with a focus on taxonomy and archaeology at McClatchy. She holds a bachelor's degree from St. Lawrence University and a master's degree from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Previously, she worked as a data journalist at Stacker.
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