Beetle #Clytra #laeviuscula (#Chrysomelidae) is #myrmecophilous. Its juveniles carry cases of feces for #antprotection. F. A. Agrain et al. (2015) state that myrmecophily in #leafbeetles only appears in #Clytrini and #Cryptocephalini within #Cryptocephalinae. Numbers of origins of the strategy are unknown, but there were preadaptations as e.g. feces cases.

© This sci-com. text #StefanFWirth 2025

Reference

F. A. Agrain et al. (2015):
https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.547.6098

#Photos
© Me, Bln, new edits 2025