Tetramorium bicarinatum foragers gather sugar-laden nectar from the underside of a leaf.

Orlando, Florida, USA
Tetramorium bicarinatum foragers gather sugar-laden nectar from the underside of a leaf.

Orlando, Florida, USA
Tetramorium bicarinatum feeding from an extrafloral nectary.

Orlando, Florida, USA
Linepithema tsachila workers feed from the extrafloral nectary of an Inga tree.

Mindo, Ecuador
Pheidole minor workers gather nectar from an Inga leaf. The plant uses the nectary to attract ants that clean the plant of herbivores.

Maquipucuna reserve, Pichincha, Ecuador
Pheidole minor workers gather nectar from an Inga leaf. The plant uses the nectary to attract ants that clean the plant of herbivores.

Maquipucuna reserve, Pichincha, Ecuador
Ectatomma ruidum feeds from an Inga nectary.

Alluriquín, Pichincha, Ecuador
Linepithema tsachila workers feed from the extrafloral nectary of an Inga tree.

Mindo, Ecuador
Paratrechina longicornis - black crazy ant.  Along a sun-soaked beach on a Panamanian island, ants drink from nectaries on the underside of a leaf.  Many plants attract ants with nectaries, and the ants in return help remove the plant's herbivorous pests.

Isla Contadora, Panama
Tetramorium bicarinatum foragers gather sugar-laden nectar from the underside of a leaf.

Orlando, Florida, USA
Tetramorium bicarinatum foragers gather sugar-laden nectar from the underside of a leaf.

Orlando, Florida, USA
Tetramorium bicarinatum foragers gather sugar-laden nectar from the underside of a leaf.

Orlando, Florida, USA
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all images and text © Alex Wild 2001-2013