Ant nest beetle can produce explosive secretions, giving them the other name of flanged bombardier beetles although they are not particularly close relatives of the typical bombardier beetles (Brachininae). Very little is known about the immature stages of ant nest beetles. Most appear to live in ant nests in their early stages of life. Although many are facultative or obligate myrmecophiles, most do not appear like ants (i.e. myrmecomorphic) and unlike in the case of myrmecophilous larval Lycaenidae, there appears to be no benefit gained by the ants in this association. Many species follow the trails of worker ants of specific species. Glandular
Longhorn crazy ant research station Biosphere 2 in the Arizona Desert, no particular ant species was dominant. By 1996, the longhorn crazy ant had virtually replaced all the other ant species. It fed almost exclusively on the honeydew secreted by the large numbers of scale insects and mealybugs present, and other invertebrates were greatly diminished. The ones that remained were either well armoured, such as millipedes and woodlice, or were tiny and lived underground, such as springtails and mites. The inquiline wingless ant cricket ("Myrmecophilus americanus") is often found living in the nest of the longhorn crazy ant and is kleptoparasitic on it,