Data from: Ant responses in a lycaenid-ant symbiosis are not facilitated by cuticular compounds alone

Initiating partnerships in protective symbioses can be asymmetrical if
there is risk of attack from their symbionts. Myrmecophiles may encounter
chemically mediated recognition systems that allow the host ants to
distinguish nestmates from natural enemies, including non-nestmate
conspecifics. The immature stages of the lycaenid butterfly Jalmenus
evagoras form an obligate symbiosis with workers of Iridomyrmex mayri that
protect them against natural enemies. However, first instar larvae cannot
anticipate this colony-specific chemical recognition system, since they
are unlikely to encounter workers from the same colony that tended their
mother. We show experimentally that workers of I. mayri can use chemical
signals alone to distinguish between conspecifics and the larvae of J.
evagoras; between nestmate and non-nestmate conspecifics; and between
larvae tended by nestmate and non-nestmate conspecifics. 
Nevertheless, we also show experimentally that while workers paid more
attention to 4th than to 2nd instar larvae, they did not respond more
aggressively to larvae that had been tended by non-nestmate versus
nestmate workers. These data suggest that workers pay attention to other
signals, perhaps via tactile, visual or vibratory sensory modalities,
thereby allowing the butterfly myrmecophiles to mitigate the risks
associated with the chemically mediated colony-specific recognition
systems of their ant hosts.