Overview
- A peer-reviewed report published this week in Ecology and Evolution documents the first recorded case of one ant species cleaning another.
- Entomologist Mark Moffett photographed at least 90 events in Arizona’s Chiricahua Mountains involving red harvester ants and a smaller, as-yet-unnamed Dorymyrmex cone ant.
- In each session, a harvester ant waited at a cone-ant nest with open mandibles as one to five cone ants licked and nibbled across her body for seconds to minutes.
- Researchers propose a possible mutualism in which cone ants eat tiny particles from the harvester ants while the larger ants receive hygiene in hard-to-reach spots, with tests planned on parasites and microbiomes.
- The behavior mirrors marine cleaning stations in fish and shrimp and highlights how careful field observation can reveal new species interactions.