Mutualism, Commensalism, and Parasitism In The Rainforest!
Mutualism
1. Sloth hairs are grooved, which allows algae to easily take hold and grow on the sloth's fur. This camouflages the sloth and allows the algae to get closer to the sunlight.
2. Leaf cutter ants live underground in the rainforest and have a mutualistic relationship with a fungus there. The ants cut the chunk of leaves from trees even though they cannot actually digest the plant matter. They bring this plant matter back to the nest and cultivate a fungus. The fungus is fed by the plant matter from the ants, and in turn it provides food for the ants.
3. Capuchin monkeys lap nectar from flowers in trees as part of their varied diet. In the process they get pollen on their faces and pollinate the flowers.
2. Leaf cutter ants live underground in the rainforest and have a mutualistic relationship with a fungus there. The ants cut the chunk of leaves from trees even though they cannot actually digest the plant matter. They bring this plant matter back to the nest and cultivate a fungus. The fungus is fed by the plant matter from the ants, and in turn it provides food for the ants.
3. Capuchin monkeys lap nectar from flowers in trees as part of their varied diet. In the process they get pollen on their faces and pollinate the flowers.
Commensalism
1. At least nine species of moths, mites and beetles live on sloths, eating the algae on their fur. The arthropods lay their eggs on the dung of the sloths, which provides food for the growing larvae. This relationship does not hurt of the sloth, but provides no benefit either.
2. Ant birds travel with army ants, eating the small vertebrates and insects which are flushed out by the advancing army. The ants still get plenty to eat and the birds never eat the army ants themselves, but the birds do no good for the ants, either.
3. Flower mites which feed on pollen hitchhike from one flower to a fresher one by climbing into the nasal passages of hummingbirds and disembarking when carried to a better flower.
2. Ant birds travel with army ants, eating the small vertebrates and insects which are flushed out by the advancing army. The ants still get plenty to eat and the birds never eat the army ants themselves, but the birds do no good for the ants, either.
3. Flower mites which feed on pollen hitchhike from one flower to a fresher one by climbing into the nasal passages of hummingbirds and disembarking when carried to a better flower.
Parasitism
1. A parasitic wasp preys on fig wasps, drilling a small hole into the fig and using her long ovipositor to inject an egg near a developing fig wasp larva, which will be consumed by the parasitic larva after it hatches.
2. The leaf cutter ant parasitic fly lays its eggs only on the backs of leaf-cutter ants targeting porters who are carrying leaves. The larvae burrow into the ant's body after hatching and feed on it, killing it. For this reason, sometimes a smaller morph of leaf-cutter can be observed riding shotgun on a leaf piece to protect the porter ant, which fails to defend itself because it will not put down its leaf.
3. There is no wind on the forest floor. For a fungus to disperse spores by the wind, it has to have a way to rise above the forest floor. Many kinds of decomposers and scavengers of the insect world will incidentally ingest a spore of a certain fungus. As the hyphae grow through the animal's tissues they drive it insane, the insect climbs a tall plant and walks out to the tip of a leaf, and dies as the fruiting body bursts through its back, dispersing its spores in the breeze from its new, exposed position.
2. The leaf cutter ant parasitic fly lays its eggs only on the backs of leaf-cutter ants targeting porters who are carrying leaves. The larvae burrow into the ant's body after hatching and feed on it, killing it. For this reason, sometimes a smaller morph of leaf-cutter can be observed riding shotgun on a leaf piece to protect the porter ant, which fails to defend itself because it will not put down its leaf.
3. There is no wind on the forest floor. For a fungus to disperse spores by the wind, it has to have a way to rise above the forest floor. Many kinds of decomposers and scavengers of the insect world will incidentally ingest a spore of a certain fungus. As the hyphae grow through the animal's tissues they drive it insane, the insect climbs a tall plant and walks out to the tip of a leaf, and dies as the fruiting body bursts through its back, dispersing its spores in the breeze from its new, exposed position.