Aphaenogaster that collect elaiosome seeds also collect certain oak galls. In fact, oak galls, seeds with elaiosomes, and phasmid eggs are all kind of similar:
And in the realm of plant ant mutualism:
Colobopsis schmitzi ants not only have a mutualistic relationship with the Nepenthes bicalcarata pitcher plant, where the plant provides domatia and extra-floral nectaries and the ants attack weevils....
https://www.soctrope...ropica 13-1.pdf
but the ants go pitcher-diving to hunt for food underwater:
Yeah so diving ants are cool.
More on plant-ant mutualism (can you tell I was researching for a book):
Of the ants who farm PLANTS (not fungi), the Fijian ants are said to be "TRUE"ly doing the plant agriculture thing.
"True plant agriculture in non-human animals is exclusively known in the ant Philidris nagasau, which farms six species of Squamellaria in Fiji."
https://www.cell.com...1385(22)00267-9
And once again in the ants-and-plants world (still haven't finished rewriting the book):
Contrary to the current Wikipedia article, there are weaver ants other than Oecophylla. One of them lives in Central and South America (Colobopsis textor) and its silk was recently investigated as a potential biomaterial.
https://pubmed.ncbi....h.gov/35398365/
Oh, and these ants (Melissotarsus) may be farming scale insects for meat, not for honeydew.
Not only that, but the adults can spin silk.
https://www.antwiki....i/Melissotarsus
https://www.newscien...n-meat-farmers/
Edited by OhNoNotAgain, January 13 2025 - 12:51 PM.
