In exchange for protection, swollen-thorn Acacia trees provide Pseudomyrmex ants with food and shelter. Here an ant harvests a protein-rich food body that will be fed to the ants' larvae. (Pseudomyrmex spinicola) Chiriqui, Panama - Alex Wild Photography - Insect Photography

Pseudomyrmex

is a largely tropical genus of elongate ants, usually arboreal, found throughout the warmer regions of the New World. Several Central American species have evolved complex and specialized relationships with the Acacia plants they inhabit.

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Cutting open a hollow twig reveals a small nest of Pseudomyrmex simplex.

Monte Verde, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Pseudomyrmex simplex worker with larvae. This species is among the most common Pseudomyrmex from subtropical North America south to Argentina.

Monte Verde, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Pseudomyrmex spinicola guard their thorn nest.

Chiriqui, Panama

A Pseudomyrmex spinicola worker ant harvests Beltian bodies on an Acacia tree. These bodies form the primary food source for the ants' larvae.

Chiriqui, Panama

Pseudomyrmex spinicola acacia ants guarding a nest entrance. This species has a painful sting and a much more aggressive temperment than most other Pseudomyrmex, an effective deterrent to large vertebrate herbivores.

Chiriqui, Panama

In exchange for protection, swollen-thorn Acacia trees provide Pseudomyrmex ants with food and shelter. Here an ant harvests a protein-rich food body that will be fed to the ants' larvae. (Pseudomyrmex spinicola)

Chiriqui, Panama

A Pseudomyrmex spinicola acacia ant pauses outside the nest entrance. The ants cut a circular entrance hole to gain access to the inside of the hollow thorn.

Chiriqui, Panama.

Pseudomyrmex spinicola acacia ant, at the entrance to a thorn nest.

Chiriqui, Panama

Portrait of a mutualism: a swollen-thorn Acacia with the ants that protect it. The hundreds of thorns on a mature tree can house colonies of up to 20,000 ants.

Chiriqui, Panama

In exchange for protection, swollen-thorn Acacia trees provide Pseudomyrmex ants with food and shelter. Here an ant harvests a protein-rich food body that will be fed to the ants' larvae. (Pseudomyrmex spinicola)

Chiriqui, Panama

Canon EOS 20D |

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Original size: 3504x2332 |

Current: 800x533 |

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Pseudomyrmex

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