Farmer Ants Use Mercenaries to Fight for Them

In the jungles of Panama, a group of farmers ekes out a living by raising fungi for food. 

They’re peaceful, and when more aggressive neighbors come into their territory, looking for a cut of the crop, they oblige the guests and don’t fight them. 

While inconvenient, the arrangement pays off sometimes. 

When even more aggressive outsiders try to take over the farms, the first group of intruders earns their keep by repelling them and protecting their hosts. 

The not-exactly-welcome guests have their uses, and for the farmers, sharing a little fungus is a small price to pay for protection.

The ants of the genus Sericomyrmex are the peaceful farmers.

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