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​ON ANTS, BANDICOOTS AND GILBERTIAN MIMICRY

​The story of an ant, Myrmecia gulosa, commonly known as the giant bull ant, and the way - over time - it has acquired a protein able to mimic a hormone which belongs to its predators, who - once stung - are inflicted such a lasting pain that they will think twice before touching a giant bull ant again.  

illustration by Arthur Rackham (1867-1939)