Amazonian ants Allomerus octoarticulatus act as bodyguards, defending the Cordia nodosa plant against herbivores—such as grasshoppers—in a mutualistic relationship. A recent study pinpoints a genetic variation among A. octoarticulatus that makes some of the ants better bodyguards: a certain foraging gene makes the ants better at discovering the grasshoppers attempting to feed on the plant. Researchers studied two ant colonies, one of which […]