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
Pharaoh ant food deprived colony, this traffic was further increased, an indication of the pharaoh ant's recruitment tactic. If food is not present, a colony will extend its trails to a wider radius around the nest. Logically, number of trails and forager traffic is largest near a food source. While pheromones explain the pharaoh ant's remarkable foraging ability, each forager’s uncanny capability to find its way back to the nest requires a different explanation. In fact, the pharaoh ant relies on geometry to show it the way home. Each fork in the trail system spreads at an angle between 50 and 60