Fabio Liverani / {Azteca sp} ants on Acacia, Santa Rosa NP, Guanacaste, Costa Rica

PREMAPHOTOS / Ants {Azteca sp} at entrance to nest in Cecropia tree, Costa Rica

Mark Moffett / Ant (Azteca sp) patrol at colony entrance of their host (Cecropia sp) tree, Costa Rica

Mark Moffett / Ant (Azteca sp) queen with brood inside Cordia (Cordia nodosa) host tree with tem hairs protecting tree against large enemy ants, but permit passage of small (Azteca sp)

Mark Moffett / Ant (Azteca sp) queen, in her host (Cecropia sp) tree, surrounded by workers and larvae in native colony, Manu, Peru

Mark Moffett / Ant (Azteca sp) queen, in her host (Cecropia sp) tree, starting her colony, Manu, Peru

Mark Moffett / Ant (Azteca sp) queen, in her host (Cecropia sp) tree, starting her colony, Manu, Peru

Mark Moffett / Ant (Azteca sp) queen, in her host (Cecropia sp) tree with workers starting her colony, Manu, Peru

Mark Moffett / Ant (Azteca sp) queen, in her host (Cecropia sp) tree with her first workers starting colony, Manu, Peru

Mark Moffett / Ant (Azteca sp) queen starting her colony within Cordia (Cordia nodosa) host tree, Peru

Mark Moffett / Ant (Azteca sp) patrol leaves to protect their host tree (Cecropia sp), Manu, Peru

Mark Moffett / Ant (Azteca sp) with food item plucked from its host tree (Cecropia sp), Manu, Peru

Mark Moffett / Ant (Azteca sp) patrol on their host tree (Cecropia sp) killing intruder ant species, Costa Rica

Mark Moffett / Ant (Azteca sp) patrol guarding Borage (Boraginaceae)

Michael & Patricia Fogden / Cecropia (Cecropia sp) petiole with food for Ants (Azteca sp) which protect plant from herbivores in cloud forest, Tandayapa Valley, western slope of Andes, Ecuador

Michael & Patricia Fogden / Ant (Azteca sp) collecting food from Cecropia (Cecropia sp) petiole, in return, protects plant from herbivores in cloud forest, Tandayapa Valley, western slope of Andes, Ecuador

Christian Ziegler / Ant (Azteca sp) pair coming out of a hole in stem of Cecropia (Cecropia sp) plants that offer ants space and food in exchange for protection against herbivores, Barro Colorado Island, Panama

Mark Moffett / Ant (Azteca sp) colony and symbiotic wasp nest and Mark Moffett, Panama

Mark Moffett / Cecropia (Cecropia sp) food bodies for its Ant (Azteca sp) residents, Manu, Peru