He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
Myrmecocoria is a strategy used by plants to harness the skills and collaboration of ants to disperse seeds
Most of the plants that inhabit the Earth develop from sow, a fertilized and grown egg that represents a new organism that is genetically different from both parents.
Spermatophytes, ie the plants that produce seeds, have developed several strategies to disperse their seeds as far as possible: some develop fruits that are palatable and inviting for birds and mammals, others endow the fruits or the seeds themselves with a sort of wings or pappi to make them fly in the air or float on water, others still literally explode the fruits so as to be able to disperse the seeds. (Read also: This tree makes its seeds fly, which slowly slide towards the ground)
About 3000 species of angiosperms look for the instead collaboration of ants, through a transport mechanism known as myrmecochory the myrmechory.
Ants, as they know, are capable of lifting weights much higher than their body weight and carrying them for long distances. Some plants have decided to take advantage of these ant abilities, creating a kind of symbiosis with these little insects.
Plant species that use myrmecocoria as a strategy of dispersion, make their seeds palatable to ants by providing them with special appendages called elaiosomes that contain sugary nutrients.
The first botanist to systematically study the species of plants that used this "mechanism" to reproduce was the Swedish botanist Sernander who classified them into 15 types of myrmecocore based on the morphology and phylogenetic origin of the seed appendix, but we still know little of the actual mechanism that causes ants to prefer some rather than others. A study published in the British Ecological Society hypothesized that plants would use chemical mimicry and in particular special fatty acids to "trick" ants into choosing their own seed.
When the ants encounter these seeds along their routes, they collect them and bring them to the anthill. Once in the anthill, the seeds are deprived of the heliosome - used to feed the larvae - and expelled.
In this way, the seeds are not transported to great distances from the mother plant but can still escape other predators and find places where environmental conditions favor germination.
La myrmecochory is a strategy common to several species including trinity grass or liverwort (Hepatica nobilis), marsh sorceress (Stachys palustris), snowdrop, violets, female camedrio (Teucrium fruticans) and it is not the only type of collaboration between plants and ants.
Many plant species, called myrmecophytes, have developed structural adaptations for offer food or shelter to the ants obtaining in exchange collaboration for the pollination, for the defense from parasites and for other fundamental aspects for the life of the plant including the dispersion of seeds. (Read also: Plants evolved to manipulate ants and let themselves be defended)
Ants too, as well as numerous insects, birds and animals, are therefore essential for promoting biodiversity on our planet.
Sources of reference: Acta Planctarum / Ispra Ambiente
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