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MUTUALISTIC SYMBIOSIS. "In the best known relationship between ants and aphids, ants eat the sugar-rich honeydew excreted by the aphids and, in return, provide them with protection and hygienic services. This kind of interaction is termed trophobiosis and is considered to be mutualistic." http://www.pnas.org/content/112/4/1101.full View in LinkedIn

BROAD SPECTRUM. "Understanding the evolutionary transition from interspecific exploitation to cooperation is a major challenge in evolutionary biology. Ant–aphid relationships represent an ideal system to this end because they encompass a coevolutionary continuum of interactions ranging from mutualism to antagonism." https://lnkd.in/d9truvs View in LinkedIn

VIDEO of ants extracting honeydew from aphids by hypnotically stroking the aphids with their antenna to induce the cooperative behavior of secreting a drop of honeydew from their abdomen. https://lnkd.in/dbca4rV View in LinkedIn

PASSING. "Antennation is involved in many aspects of ant social life such as kin recognition, brood discrimination, and enemy specification whereas licking is a grooming behavior performed by ants on their larvae and other nest mates. The occurrence of a set of distinctive behaviors typical of ant-larvae care, including antennation, transportation to the brood chamber, and licking, along with their high adoption rate, strongly suggests that the flat morph is successfully mimicking ant larvae." http://www.pnas.org/content/112/4/1101.full View in LinkedIn

MUTUALISM OF ANTS AND APHIDS. "Social insects defend their own colonies and some species also protect their mutualist partners. In mutualisms with aphids, ants typically feed on honeydew produced by aphids and, in turn guard and shelter aphid colonies from insect natural enemies." https://lnkd.in/e6r3DvK View in LinkedIn

SHEEP'S CLOTHING. "Our results show that chemical mimicry is used by flat morph aphids to deceive worker ants and infiltrate their brood chamber." This involved evolving a bio synthetic process to make the ant coat protein, or a wolf in a sheep's clothing strategy. http://www.pnas.org/content/112/4/1101.full View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE deals with ant aphid farming. Ant societies are highly organized and have evolved many stunning food strategies, from cultivating fungal gardens to rearing aphids. This is a case study of mutualism between the ant and the aphid, where both parties gain from the relationship, although the relationship is more in favour of the ant. Enjoy the story that took millions of years to brew. View in LinkedIn

SNIFF TEST. "The main avenue of ant communication is chemical, and cuticular hydrocarbons have been shown to be particularly important in mediating nest-mate recognition. Several social parasites have developed the capacity to exploit this circumstance, penetrating ant societies by displaying chemicals that mimic those of their hosts. This strategy can be accomplished either by acquiring the host cuticular compounds through direct body contact (chemical camouflage) or by synthesizing them (chemical mimicry)." http://www.pnas.org/content/112/4/1101.full View in LinkedIn

NON-CODING GENES AND VIRAL REMNANTS. “The TEs comprise at least half of the mammalian genomes, and in particular, are found in most lincRNAs.” (TE = transposable elements); (lincRNA = Long intergenic non-coding RNA). View in LinkedIn

INCOGNITO. "These results not only add aphids to the limited list of arthropods known to biosynthesize the cuticular chemicals of their deceived hosts to exploit their resources but describe a remarkable case of plastic aggressive mimicry." https://lnkd.in/d9truvs View in LinkedIn