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Ectatomma ruidum feeds from an Inga nectary. Alluriquín, Pichincha, Ecuador
Partners in a devil's garden: Myrmelachista ants and the Clidemia plants they live in. The swellings on the plant stem are hollow domatia that house the ant colony. Jatun Sacha reserve, Napo, Ecuador
Myrmelachista workers with brood and mealybugs inside a domatium of a Tococa plant. Jatun Sacha reserve, Napo, Ecuador
Myrmelachista workers with brood and mealybugs inside a domatium of a Tococa plant. Jatun Sacha reserve, Napo, Ecuador
Partners in a devil's garden: Myrmelachista ants and the Clidemia plants they live in. The swellings on the plant stem are hollow domatia that house the ant colony. Jatun Sacha reserve, Napo, Ecuador
Myrmelachista workers with mealybugs inside a domatium of a Tococa plant. Jatun Sacha reserve, Napo, Ecuador
Pogonomyrmex badius, the Florida harvester ant Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA
Pogonomyrmex badius, the Florida harvester ant Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA
A number of plant species have come to depend on ants to disperse their seeds. To entice the ants, the seeds have a tasty, lipid-rich structure called an elaiosome at one end, and the ants carry the seed along when then take the elaiosome back to their nest. Here, a Formica exsectoides mound ant has found the seeds of leafy spurge, an invasive pest plant whose spread might be facilitated by ants. Wisconsin, USA
Ectatomma ruidum feeds from an Inga nectary.

Alluriquín, Pichincha, Ecuador
Ectatomma ruidum feeds from an Inga nectary. Alluriquín, Pichincha, Ecuador
Ectatomma ruidum feeds from an Inga nectary.

Alluriquín, Pichincha, Ecuador
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all images and text © Alex Wild 2001-2013