Researchers from our top-rated Biosciences department have uncovered a fascinating way tropical plants in Fiji manage to keep peace among rival ant colonies.
The study, led by Professor Guillaume Chomicki, reveals that some species of the plant Squamellaria build special structures to house ants which is cleverly designed to stop them from fighting.
The bulb-shaped plant homes, called ‘domatia’, are split into separate chambers.
Each ant colony gets its own room, with no internal connections.
This physical separation acts like a block of flats, with each ant group having its own flat and front door.
The clever design means the ants never come face to face and therefore never fight.
In return for a safe place to live, the ants fertilise the plant using nutrients from their waste.
Even though some of these ants are naturally aggressive toward one another, the plant benefits from each colony’s contribution.
The research, carried out over ten years and across three Fijian islands, showed that up to five different ant species can live peacefully inside a single plant.
Tests confirmed that all of them helped feed the plant, making this mutually beneficial.
To test if these plant-built barriers were truly the reason for peace, the team removed the walls between chambers in some plants.
The result was instant conflict. Ants that had lived peacefully became violent, with heavy casualties on both sides.
But in plants where the walls were left alone, harmony continued.
This discovery offers new insight into how living things can avoid conflict by simply keeping their distance.
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