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Scientists discover “cleaner ants” that groom giant ants in Arizona desert

74 points by t-3

by awinter-py

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by awakeasleep

6 subcomments

by mmooss

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The full paper described in the article is available here:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13070876/
Mark W. Moffett. The First Cleaner Ant? A Novel Partnership in the Arizona Desert. Ecology and Evolution, 2026; 16 (4) DOI: 10.1002/ece3.73308

by LeCompteSftware

1 subcomments

This is very cool, and quite surprising. Cleaner fish are thought to be among the most intelligent fish because of the complexity and danger of their feeding strategy: it takes careful planning and quick thinking. But they aren't tied to any particular species of host or general tactic; naively I imagine cleaner fish are more versatile and adaptable than cone ants.
It would be interesting to learn if this occurs with other species of ants. I suppose until now nobody thought to look.

by marojejian

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by black_13

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by riazrizvi

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They crawl over them and lick and nibble their bodies? Okay I understand the quotes now.
It truly is the oldest profession.