Entomologist Discovers First Known 'Cleaner Ant' Species Grooming Larger Ants in Arizona Desert

During a research expedition in 2006, entomologist Mark Moffett discovered a novel interspecies grooming behavior among ants in the mesquite desert of southeastern Arizona. He noted that red harvester ants would position themselves close to nests of cone ants for grooming purposes. Over a span of five days, Moffett recorded no fewer than 90 interactions, with the majority of cleaning sessions occurring before 9:00 a.m. The cone ants, which belong to an undescribed species in the Dorymyrmex genus, often worked in groups of up to five, engaging in cleaning that lasted from a few seconds to over five minutes. Moffett's findings were published on April 12 in Ecology and Evolution, highlighting the first documented instance of a potential 'cleaner ant' species. Future studies may investigate the evolutionary advantages of this relationship and its implications for infections or microbiomes.