Here, we review all published records of M. Most Myrmecophilus crickets are not species-specific with respect to host ant. Myrmecophilus crickets are kleptoparasitic on their host ants, feeding on food resources in the ant nests and inducing ants to regurgitate liquid food. Although it is known that actinobacteria have a specific action against Escovopsis spp., our studies, along with other independent studies, indicate that actinomycetes may also be important for the individual health of the workers.Myrmecophilus ant crickets are tiny wingless ant symbionts that live in and around ant nests.

Actinobacteria do not seem to change nestmate recognition in these colonies. Instead, we propose that actinobacteria confer protection to young workers until the maturation of their immune system. The lower encapsulation rate did not seem to be a cost imposed by actinomycetes because the elimination of the actinomycetes did not increase the encapsulation rate. INB ants showed lower rates of encapsulation and respiration than did the EXT and INØ ants. We also eliminated the actinobacteria by antibiotic treatment and examined worker encapsulation response. We evaluated these parameters in three worker groups of Acromyrmex subterraneus subterraneus: External workers (EXT), internal workers with actinobacteria covering the whole body (INB) and internal workers without actinobacteria covering the whole body (INØ). Our objective was to evaluate whether the presence or absence of symbiotic actinobacteria covering the whole ant cuticle is related to differential immunocompetence, respiratory rate and cuticular hydrocarbons (CHs). Antibiotics produced by attine ectosymbionts ( Actinobacteria) suppress the growth of Escovopsis spp., the specialized parasite of attine fungus gardens. Associations with symbiotic organisms can serve as a strategy for social insects to resist pathogens.

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