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butterfly equivalent of a kindergarten is run by ants which are
very aggressive to intruders while being attentive to the
caterpillars in their care. The ants don't provide this
service free of charge but get rewarded with droplets of nectar
which the caterpillars produce from special glands.
Caterpillars of the Broad-margined
Azure, like those of other butterflies, are plant-eaters and feed
exclusively on mistletoes, but while they are feeding they are
almost constantly fussed over by one of a very few species of ant.
In some species of butterfly the
ants do almost everything for them. They allow the
caterpillars to rest in the ant nest during the day, they help
them to the food plant during the night and in some cases even
allow the caterpillars to feed on the ants' own young.
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