A new species of beetle has been discovered under the soil of northern Australia. The beetle, which belongs to the cycad family, imitates the appearance of termite beetles.
In order to obtain food more easily, the beetle uses a trick of lengthening its abdomen, by which it develops a body structure typical of termites, thus deceptively resembling termite beetles. Because the beetle’s mouthparts are small, like the rest of its body (despite its enlarged, doll-like abdomen), it actually seeks food from real termites, but does not eat their larvae and eggs, the journal publishing the new species wrote.
Camouflage may seem unnecessary to beginners, since termites are blind, but they navigate well by touch. On the other hand, the new species not only adapted its body size to that of termites, but also selected and absorbed the unique chemical they produced. This allows them to integrate perfectly into termite colonies.
Worker termites live off the digested food of other castes in the colony, and self-burrowing beetles have plenty of this as well. According to the study, once the newly discovered beetle species entered a termite nest, its food was provided for life thanks to the hard work of real termites.
Source: magyarmezogazdasag.hu
