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For basil, those oils are called eugenol and linalool; oregano gets its flavors from carvacrol and thymol.

Oregano also contains two compounds, thymol and carvacrol, that have strong antibacterial activity.

But Myrmica ants have evolved the ability to detoxify carvacrol, an insecticide that is the principal ingredient of the oregano’s defense system.

An extra strong whiff of carvacrol signals not only the right food plant for the infant caterpillars but also the fact that beneath this particular plant is a nest of Myrmica ants.

They double their output of carvacrol, Dr. Thomas’s group reported last month in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. And this, the scientists propose, is the cue for female Large Blues seeking the right place to lay their eggs.