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TODAY'S FACT IS
Did you know that Microdon Mutabilis is a species of hoverfly in Western Europe? Its range needs to be reassessed after the discovery of a very similar species in the same area in 2002. These flies lay a handful of eggs at the entrance to an ant hill. The ants (usually) accept the eggs and raise them even though the fly larvae look more like slugs than ant larvae. The fly larvae will eat the larvae and pupae of their hosts for about a year before they pupate themselves. The adult emerges, mates, and goes to a new ant hill. These myrmecophiles can detect specific chemical compounds emitted by the ants to find a new home for their youth.
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Photo by kplamberg