Although it has been known for some time that ants are able to make alarm calls using sound, advances in technology have enabled scientists to discover that ants routinely ìtalkî to each other in their nests. Using miniaturised microphones and speakers that can be inserted unobtrusively into nests, researchers established that ants have a vocabulary and can talk to each other by rubbing parts of their abdomen together, and the queens can issue instructions to their workers. But these surprising abilities can be exploited by other parasitic insects, who can mimic the ants to make them their slaves. Rebelís large blue butterfly ñ an endangered species ñ is a case in point. This species has been found to have learnt to imitate the antsí sounds so successfully that the butterflyís caterpillars are carried by ants into the nests where they beg for food and are fed by the worker ants. When a colony is disturbed the ants will rescue the caterpillars before their own broods. They will even slaughter their own young to feed the caterpillars when food is scarce.