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A Giant Forest Ant (Dinomyrmex gigas) receives a droplet of sweet honeydew from the abdomen of a juvenile leaf-footed bug (Notobitus sp.). The bugs, which obtain more sugar than they need from the plant juices they feed on, are fiercely guarded by the ants in return. Mutually beneficial trophobiotic relationships such as this are very advantageous in the competitive ecosystem of the rainforest. Danum Valley Conservation Area, Sabah, Malaysia (Borneo).
- Copyright
- © Chien C. Lee
- Image Size
- 4454x2973 / 9.5MB
- https://www.photoshelter.com/support/license
- Keywords
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Aculeata, Apocrita, Borneo, Camponotini, Coreidae, Coreoidea, East Malaysia, Formicidae, Formicinae, Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Hymenoptera, Insecta, Liliopsida, Malaysia, Pentatomomorpha, Poaceae, Poales, Sabah, Southeast Asia, Vespoidea, animal, ant, arthropod, bug, camponotine ant, fauna, flora, formicine ant, grass, insect, invertebrate, leaf-footed bug, monocot, monocotyledon, mutualism, mutualistic, plant, symbiosis, trophobiosis, tropical, true bug
- Contained in galleries
- Borneo, Insects, Interactions, Mutualisms
