acacia ant

…stinging ants of the genus Pseudomyrmex, which live inside the swollen thorns of the trees. Pseudomyrmex ants have a well-characterized mutualistic relationship with swollen-thorn acacias; the plants depend on the aggressive nature of Pseudomyrmex to protect against animal predators, and the ants depend on the trees’ Beltian bodies and nectar…

Acacia ants (Pseudomyrmex ferruginea) inhabit the bullhorn acacia (or bullhorn wattle; Vachellia cornigera). The ants obtain food and shelter, and the acacia depends on the ants for protection from browsing animals, which the ants drive away. Neither member can survive successfully without

Ants live inside the hollow modified spinous structures of bull’s-horn thorn and feed on the nectar. In return for this food source, they attack and destroy animals of all sizes as well as other plants that contact the acacia plant. In doing so, the ants…