Desert Ants Clean Harvester Mandibles, Cleaner Ant
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- Mark Moffett observed and photographed over 90 interactions between harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex barbatus) and cone ants (an undescribed Dorymyrmex species) in the Arizona desert in June 2006.
- Harvester ants adopted a stiff posture with open jaws while cone ants crawled over them, licking and nipping at the bodies and cleaning inside the mandibles, without any aggression from the harvesters.
- Cone ants did not perform the cleaning behavior when presented with dead harvester ants near their nests, indicating the behavior depends on cues from living harvesters.
- The study proposes that cleaning may remove pathogens from hard-to-reach areas of the harvester ants and that cone ants may transfer antifungal or antibacterial substances during the process.
- Cone ants may gain protection by acquiring harvester pheromones that reduce aggression and obtain nutritional resources from oils or compounds on the harvester ant’s exoskeleton.
Why it matters: The finding gives entomologists a clear example of interspecies cleaning, showing that harvester ants may reduce pathogen loads while cone ants gain protection and nutrition, thereby broadening the known spectrum of ant social interactions. It also challenges the prevailing view of ants as solely competitive, suggesting that such mutualistic cleaning could influence disease dynamics within colonies and inspire ecological research.
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