Page 100 - The Miracle in the Ant

Above is a plant that is fed by its "tenants." This plant also serves as a "home"
for the ants.

Ants That Feed Their Hosts
Certain ants feed their host plants. For instance, the inflated bodies
of two kinds of plants (Myrmecodia and Hydnophytum) that are full of
lumps provide chambers with partitions for ants to nest in them. Ants
live in these grooves but, interestingly, differentiate between them. The
chambers they live in have smooth walls. They pack insect remnants in-
to the other chambers, which have rough walls. Research has shown that
rough walls absorb nutritional material but that straight grooves are not
porous. Therefore, the plant absorbs the insect remnants that the ants
bring in. In other words, the selection the ants make as regards the use
of chambers is very correct.
Scientists have carried out a very interesting test on this subject. First
they fed fruit fly larvae with yeast treated with radiation. Then they
placed them on the plant harbouring the ants. The ants, finding the lar-

Kar›nca Mucizesi
100 THE MIRACLE IN THE ANT