Fig. 1

Morphological gestalt, ant behaviors towards ecitophiles, and ecitophile mimicry accuracy. a: (A) Ecitophya rove beetle representing the myrmecoid gestalt, (B) Vatesus rove beetle as well as (C) Nymphister histerid beetle the protective gestalt, (D) Vatesus rove beetle larva the larval-shaped gestalt, (E) Ecitophora phorid fly the phorid-like gestalt, and (F) Tetradonia rove beetle the staphylinid-like gestalt. Eciton burchellii workers representing different army ant size classes: (G) major, (H) intermediate, and (I) minor. Violin jitter plots visualizing b the number of host contacts, c the sum of aggressive ant encounters (chasing, snapping, stinging, and seizing), and d CHC profile similarities to the colonies’ average worker profile (BC similarity). For better data visualization, species within genera are combined. Additional files 1 and 2 include information at the species level. Sample sizes are given above violin plots, which are ordered according to the groups’ medians. The category 'other histerids' includes the species Aphanister sp. 1, Cheilister cf. lucidulus, Psalidister furcatus, and Sternocoelopsis cf. nevermanni. Images are not to scale. Image credits: Daniel Kronauer