The western corn rootworm escapes biological control by entomopathogenic nematodes by partitioning and phenocopying the plant defense system for self-protection.

By changing the smell of their host, entomopathogenic nematodes attract future hosts and increase their predation success.

The substrate for evolutionary divergence does not lie in changes in neuronal cell number or targeting, but rather in sensory perception and synaptic partner choice within invariant, prepatterned neuronal processes.