Photo Feature
A Mutual Exchange
An ant laps up honeydew, a sweet fluid secreted by a treehopper nymph, at the Bolpur Deer Park, West Bengal. Some treehoppers are solitary, while others form fascinating relationships with ants that they herd like ‘cowherds’ by creating ant farms. In return for the nutritious honeydew, the ants protect the treehoppers against predators and parasites in a two-way beneficial association scientists call mutualism.
Photo: Agniswar Ghosal