Ant new estimates suggest that nearly 9% of all plant species may have such ant associations. Some plants in fire-prone grassland systems are particularly dependent on ants for their survival and dispersal as the seeds are transported to safety below the ground. Many ant-dispersed seeds have special external structures, elaiosomes, that are sought after by ants as food. A convergence, possibly a form of mimicry, is seen in the eggs of stick insects. They have an edible elaiosome-like structure and are taken into the ant nest where the young hatch. Most ants are predatory and some prey on and obtain food
Ant spider ant carrying a dead conspecific away from the nest (a common behaviour among ants). It is likely that the spiders also derive some protection against predation from their similarity to the ants, since ants are unpalatable to many species that eat spiders. , the World Spider Catalog accepted the following genera: Ant spider Ant spiders are members of the family Zodariidae. They are small to medium-sized eight-eyed spiders found world-wide in tropical to warm temperate regions, though there are relatively few species in North America. Some zodariids are ant mimics. Although ant mimicry is quite common in spiders, the form