alexwild > Dinoponera australis - Misiones, Argentina.

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alexwild > 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.

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alexwild > 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. Panama.

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alexwild > 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.

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alexwild > Cutting open the surprisingly soft flesh of an Acacia thorn reveals larvae and pupae of the Pseudomyrmex acacia ant.  Panama.

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alexwild > Friend or Foe? Two Pseudomyrmex spinicola acacia ant nestmates evaluate each other at the nest entrance. Panama.

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alexwild > 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. Panama.

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alexwild > A Cecropia tree grows into a gap in the Panamanian rainforest.  These fast-growing trees house colonies of fierce Azteca ants that protect the tree from herbivores.

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alexwild > Cecropia ants do not tolerate other ants on their host tree.  When intruders are encountered,  Azteca patrollers work together to pin them down.  Interestingly, the offending insects aren't always killed.  This Camponotus was simply dragged to the edge of the plant and dropped.

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Dinoponera australis - Misiones, Argentina.

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alexwild > Dinoponera australis - Misiones, Argentina.

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Dinoponera australis - Misiones, Argentina.

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all images and text © Alex Wild 2008

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