Ants and other species

Ants and plants

Ants share a mutualistic relationship with many species of plants where both parties are benefited. Plants usually provide nesting places and food (such as nectar) to the ants and in turn ants take care of plants defending them from herbivores.

Ants are also a group of lesser known pollinators of plants, although this relationship is not very common. 

The dispersal of seeds by ants, also called "myrmecochory", is a phenomenon where plants produce seeds with elaiosomes or "food bodies", which are full of nutrients. Foraging ants carry these seeds to their nest and remove the elaiosomes to feed their offspring. The rest of the seed is thrown away inside or outside the nest, where they germinate safe from predators. A well-known example of myrmecophilous plants are representatives of the genus Euphorbia.

Read more on the interactions between plants and ants here: https://www.antwiki.org/wiki/The_Ants_Chapter_14

Ants and other insects

Ants are well-known scavengers, predators or granivorous organisms that feed on a variety of resources.  They are both predators and prey is food webs.

Organisms that lives in association with ants are also called "myrmecophiles". These organisms can have either a positive impact on ants by clearing their nests when feeding on waste, dead ants or ant pathogens or alternatively be themselves parasites or predators of ants and their offspring.

Among insects, silverfish (Zygentoma), ladybugs (Coccinellidae) and rove beetles (Staphylinidae) can be commonly found inside ant nests. Butterfly species of the family Lycaenidae can be also found in ant nests, with their relationship ranging from mutualistic to strictly parasitic. Butterfly larvae and pupae have been shown to emit both chemical and acoustical signals to manipulate ant behavior, leading to suppression of ant aggression or ants maintaining, protecting and taking care of butterfly larvae and coccoons. Once the butterfly has transformed into its adult form it exits the ant nest before been eaten by its care-takers.

Another interesting example is that of crickets of the genus Myrmecophilus. As their name suggests, these can be found inside ant nests. Some Myrmecophilus species may be associated with a particular species of ant whereas others can enter the nests of multiple species.

Ants also share a mutualistic relationship with aphids and scale insects (order Hemiptera). Ants protect these organisms against from their predators and parasitoids and in turn hemipterans produce "honeydew", a sweet sugary excretion the ants feed on. As a result, some parasitoids of aphids and scales have evolved to mimic ants in order to pass through security.