(Climate change will disrupt many things, among them the amazing interrelated support structures that enable creatures at all levels in nature’s superstructure of life to not only survive, but thrive. This wonderful story by Joe Hinchcliffe from the Melbourne Age tells about one of the largely unseen moments of cooperation that gives life it variety and richness - Robert McLean)
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| The Eltham copper butterfly on a sweet bursaria plant in Greensborough. |
A wonder of nature is playing out in the sleepy suburbs of Melbourne's north, where an endangered butterfly has found an unlikely protector.
A species of ant is rearing the Eltham copper butterfly larvae, guarding and cleaning the small caterpillars.
It's an extraordinary relationship that has existed since the origin of the species, but one that is not without benefits for these resourceful ants.
At night the ants form a retinue of bodyguards around their invertebrate friends, guarding the caterpillars as they feed on the soft leaves of the sweet bursaria bush before escorting them back to the safety of their nest during the day.
Read the story The Age by Joe Hinchcliffe - “The butterfly effect has ants playing defence.”
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