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Some species of the Genus Microdon show
a very unusual way of living. They live as co-habitants in colonies of
ants. The females of these hover-flies place their eggs underneath
bark, always close to a colony of ants.
The larvae hatch and creep to the ants' nest, where they live of decay and waste. They are no parasites to the ants. The larvae are of longish hemispheric shape and quite big. On their surface there is a network of raised ledges, which makes them unattackable for the ants. In the picture, you can recognize two of these larvae - one in the middle beneath the ant and another one left of it. |
