Ants & Acacia Trees
Relationship Status: Bodyguards With Benefits! The acacia tree knows how to keep things sweet with its favourite insect – the ant. The acacia may look like a prickly customer, but it welcomes a whole army of ants without any complaints. In fact, it’ s like a giant ant hotel. Why? Because they protect the tree by chasing off naughty, hungry herbivores who try to eat its leaves. They also prune away pesky plants that try to grow too close. In return for bouncing baddies, the acacia tree produces an endless supply of delicious nectar for the ants to eat. What a sweet deal!
Underwood’ s Long-Tongued Bat & The Seven-Hour Flower
Relationship Status: Speed Dating! Just as its name suggests, the seven-hour flower( Merinthopodium neuranthum) really does bloom for just seven hours! But this doesn’ t stop Underwood’ s long-tongued bat( Hylonycteris underwoodi) from swooping in to cuddle-up close. How long is a tongue of a long-tongued bat? Imagine if yours was longer than your body – it’ s the same for this bat!( Sounds pretty cool … you could lick your own feet! Ed) Erm, OK.
Having a super-long tongue means the bat can reach deep into the flower’ s nectar and slurp away all the sugar in seconds! This might sound like a onesided relationship, but as the bat guzzles nectar, it picks up pollen. Then the bat carries it to the next flower on its round, helping the flower to reproduce and grow more flowers elsewhere, despite having such a short lifespan. Now that’ s what you call a blossoming love!
Dogs & Humans
Relationship Status: Paws-itively Devoted! No list of power couples would be complete without the eternal smooches humans have for their pooches. Inseparable for thousands of years, dogs helped protect humans from wolves, who saw us as twolegged lunch. The dogs’ sharp senses and booming barks warned humans that trouble was near. In return, they’ d get belly rubs, treats, and non-stop affection.( The dogs, not the humans!) Either way, this particular symbiotic relationship is definitely‘ fur-ever’.
Words: Rick Adams. Illustration: Jasmine Floyd
Next time on Love Wild-land:
Cats and the‘ symbiotic relationship’ they pretend to have with US. Or as the cats themselves might call it:‘ Training humans to fetch snacks.’
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