Relationship with other organisms Meat ant

worker common jassid nymph. these insects excrete sugary sap collected ants, protect valuable food resource.

meat ants have been observed blocking banded sugar ant nesting holes pebbles , soil prevent them leaving nest during hours of day. banded sugar ants counter preventing meat ants leaving nest blocking nesting holes debris, behaviour known nest-plugging. if meat ant nests encroached trees or other shade, banded sugar ants may invade , take on nest, since health of colony may deteriorate overshadowing. members of affected meat ant colony later move nearby satellite nest placed in suitable area, while invading banded sugar ants fill nest galleries black resinous material. meat ants attract cats because of chemicals secrete (dihydronepetalactone, isodihydronepetalactone , iridomyrmecin).

meat ants intolerant of myrmecophiles (which insects or other organisms share positive interspecies associations ants) living in colonies, cyclotorna larvae known dwell in colonies. although sphallomorpha larvae prey on workers discussed earlier, inquilines , live in nest commensally. unused or abandoned areas inside colonies occupied other species of ants , in cases, termites. meat ants may deliberately destroy colonies of termite amitermes laurensis if competition between 2 intensify.

meat ants play important role in seed dispersal. meat ant colony capable of dispersing 334,000 individual bellyache bush seeds per hectare, shows strong ant-seed relationship among two.