Communities & Ecosystems

 

Mutalism

Some populations interact in a mutalistic manner in communities, one form of cooperation. In a mutalistic situation, two populations benefit equally. One example of such a mutalistic cooperation involves two insects, ants and aphids. Aphids feed on trees by sucking sugary tree sap out of the tree's phloem. But aphids are not very neat, just look at cars parked under aphid infested trees. The cars are covered with tree sap. But not all of the sap reaches your car. Some species of ants take advantage of this smaller insect by effectively domesticating the aphids. The ants directs the aphids from plant to plant, then milk them for the sap like a group of dairy cows.