Control
A few articles ago, I covered about how a tree is controlling ants. It seems that the Acacia tree has more than a trick up its sleeve when it is working with the ants. For those people who are not familiar with the Acacia tree and its relationship with the ants, here is a summary. The Acacia feeds the ants and in return, the ants protect the tree. Most people will then inform me that that is nothing new. Ants are known to farm fungus as well aphids. Except as I mentioned earlier, the Acacia tree is calling the shots.
When the ant larvae are hatched, the Acacia tree is ready to poison the larvae with its nectar. The worker ants will gather the nectar from the Acacia tree to feed the larvae. One fact that you have to know is that larvae have invertase which breaks down sucrose into simple sugars. The adult ant does not have the invertase. This is not a problem as the nectar on the Acacia tree's nectar has invertase in its nectar. When the larvae eat the Acacia tree, enzymes in the nectar disable the larvae's invertase. This makes the larvae and the adult ants dependent on the nectar of the Acacia tree.
The Acacia tree also provides the ants with it food bodies which most insects are not able to digest. The protease inhibitors in the food bodies do not, however, affect the ants. At this point, it is still possible for people to believe that the ant is still farming the Acacia tree even if there are some tradeoffs. Which brings me to the next point.
There are times when the Acacia tree wants its pollen to be gathered by bees. At this point, the Acacia tree secretes a chemical that repels the ants from its flowers. This allows other insects to pollinate the flower. When the Acacia tree is under attack by any insect or animal, it releases another chemical that attracts the ants to swarm to the affected plant part.
I only had one question which is how a new Acacia tree attracts the Acacia ants. Apparently, the new tree releases a chemical to attracts a newly mated queen.
When the ant larvae are hatched, the Acacia tree is ready to poison the larvae with its nectar. The worker ants will gather the nectar from the Acacia tree to feed the larvae. One fact that you have to know is that larvae have invertase which breaks down sucrose into simple sugars. The adult ant does not have the invertase. This is not a problem as the nectar on the Acacia tree's nectar has invertase in its nectar. When the larvae eat the Acacia tree, enzymes in the nectar disable the larvae's invertase. This makes the larvae and the adult ants dependent on the nectar of the Acacia tree.
The Acacia tree also provides the ants with it food bodies which most insects are not able to digest. The protease inhibitors in the food bodies do not, however, affect the ants. At this point, it is still possible for people to believe that the ant is still farming the Acacia tree even if there are some tradeoffs. Which brings me to the next point.
There are times when the Acacia tree wants its pollen to be gathered by bees. At this point, the Acacia tree secretes a chemical that repels the ants from its flowers. This allows other insects to pollinate the flower. When the Acacia tree is under attack by any insect or animal, it releases another chemical that attracts the ants to swarm to the affected plant part.
I only had one question which is how a new Acacia tree attracts the Acacia ants. Apparently, the new tree releases a chemical to attracts a newly mated queen.
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