A study done by a group of scientists in the Centre for Social Evolution at the University of Copenhagen were able to find out how the Alcon blue butterfly larvae uses a distinct smell to trick ants to taking care of them, even to the point that the ants neglect their own kind.

These caterpillars first start consuming plants at the early stages of their development. Upon reaching a certain age, these larvae leave the plants and wait on the ground to be picked up by the ants. When they get to the nesting area, the larvae will feed on the ants' eggs. At the same time, these caterpillars are fed by the adult ants in preference to the ants' own brood.

David Nash, who led the group, said that:

They mimic the surface chemicals that the ants have on their own brood, and we've been able to show that the closer that mimicry, the faster they get picked up by ants and taken back to the ant nest and put amongst their own brood.