Ilaria Toni (Centro Nazionale per lo Studio e la Conservazione della Biodiversità Forestale, Italy) at Ant Course 2012 in Uganda.
Your intrepid photographer: Alex Wild's self-portrait in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
Caligo caterpillars on a banana leaf.

Misahuallí, Napo, Ecuador
The swollen stem of a Cordia nodosa plant houses a symbiotic colony of Azteca ants. The ants protect the plant from herbivores in exchange for lodging.

Jatun Sacha reserve, Napo, Ecuador
The swollen stem of a Cordia nodosa plant houses a symbiotic colony of Azteca ants. The ants protect the plant from herbivores in exchange for lodging.

Jatun Sacha reserve, Napo, Ecuador
Silhouette of an Ophiocordyceps ant-killing fungus.

Jatun Sacha reserve, Napo, Ecuador
A Tococa ant plant grows in a devil's garden.

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
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
Caligo caterpillars on a banana leaf.

Misahuallí, Napo, Ecuador
Caligo caterpillars on a banana leaf.

Misahuallí, Napo, Ecuador
Caligo caterpillars on a banana leaf.

Misahuallí, Napo, Ecuador
See photo in original gallery.
all images and text © Alex Wild 2001-2013