The marvellous episode 4 (intimate relations) ends with the blue butterfly whose grubs are nursed by ants because of their 'ant-like' smell. These grubs are targeted by the wasp. The wasps defy the ants' defence by countering their attacks with a pheromone that results in the ants attacking each other. The episode ends with the mystery how these wasps are able to tell the difference between the grub and an ant larva whereas the ants are apparently unable to do so.
As pheromones play an important role in these interactions, I was just wondering if one of these two ideas would be possible to explain this. First, ants release a chemical if they’re attacked. As they attack each other, in response to the wasp’s pheromone, it could be hypothesized that the chemical features of the ants and ant-larvae are changed by the wasp’s pheromone so that the wasp can tell the difference between the butterfly caterpillar and the ant-larvae. This would explain why the ants would not be able to detect a stranger, but would predict that the wasp wouldn’t be able to do so either if the ants would not change chemical signature. Second, and a more obvious, probably already suggested possibility would be that the butterfly caterpillar excrete a pheromone that is not only like that of the ants larvae, but is a 'superpheromone', or an ‘ant-drug’. This would explain the capability of the wasp to find that one particular nest that contains butterfly grubs and the preference of the ants of grub protection over ant-larvae.
Perhaps these issues have already been dealt with, but I was just inquisitive as ever….. So if any expert or comparable enthusiast would be able to answer me on these questions, I’d be delighted!
Best, Jurjen