Plants and Ants sometimes enter into remarkably complex ecological relationships. Ants provide protection from herbivores, while plants provide food and shelter to the ants. In the extreme, a few species have evolved such a dependence in the partnership that neither plants nor ants can survive without the other. Some of these highly-specialized systems are pictured in the gallery below.
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. Panama.
filename: spinocola10
filename: spinocola10
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. Panama.
filename: spinocola10
filename: spinocola10
all images and text © Alex Wild 2008
insect pictures, insect images, insect photos, insect photography, ant images, bug pictures, bug photographs, insect identification, ant pictures
