National Geographic: The Body Changers Page #5

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an ingenious defense.

It will soon enlist one of its enemies,

but only after it transforms to develop

special organs for manipulating ants.

At the base of the acacia tree,

ants have dug a nest.

Most ants like nothing better than

dismantling caterpillars.

But these ants love them, intact.

They will protect the caterpillar.

That's because the ants march to

the beat of a different drummer.

The caterpillar has become

the drummer.

This is the sound

the caterpillar makes

with body vibrations

so tiny we can't see them.

But ants feel the beat through twigs

and stems and come running.

A strange rendezvous of

two very different creatures

is about to take place.

The caterpillar has, in effect,

shouted to the ants,

"Come and get it!"

It's not a ploy.

The caterpillar doles out sugary

droplets which the ants lap up.

For the price of a few servings

of food,

the caterpillar is surrounded by

friendly ants.

Not a bad thing to have

the neighborhood

toughs at your beck and call

when you have a soft body

and a nasty array of predators.

This remarkable relationship will last

for most of the caterpillar's life.

The caterpillar now transforms

into a new stage.

Tentacles have appeared,

strange chemical transmitters,

that seem to rile up the ants.

The caterpillar needs the ants

to be ferocious:
danger is near.

Another kind of ant lives nearby,

a predatory species.

An enemy ant has grabbed

the caterpillar.

The friendly ants rally

in a desperate tug-of-war.

Not all battles can be won.

But without the aid of bodyguard ants,

not as many caterpillars would live

to become butterflies.

About ten days after hatching,

the caterpillar descends the tree.

It's hard to believe this creature

will soon shed its wormy form,

sprout wings and head for the heavens.

But that is the miracle

of a caterpillar.

Down in the enclave of the ant nest,

the caterpillar is reborn as a pupa.

Hunkered inside what looks like

a sarcophagus,

the pupa is a creature in the midst

of a total makeover.

Nerves are being rewired.

Old organs are dissolving;

new ones are being built.

The ants tend this defenseless animal

even though it will no longer

feed them.

After ten days,

one of the most radical redesigns

in all of nature is complete.

The pupa has become an adult,

a butterfly.

This creature's long relationship

with ants is now over.

The butterfly struggles to emerge.

It must move quickly.

In fact, if the butterfly isn't

out of the nest in minutes,

it will be devoured by the same ants

that protected it for almost

its entire life.

As larvae, these creatures were

basically enormous digestive tracts

hauled around on caterpillar treads.

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