The plant needs ants and the ants need the plant

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I am always intrigued how living organisms interact for the benefit of each other. I came across a new process the other day that involves a plant, ants, birds and butterflies. The plant is Myrmecodia beccarii, or ant-house plant. It is an epiphyte (grows on the surface of another plant) and is in wetlands and mangroves of north Queensland, Australia. The thick stem of the plant has natural hollows which are colonised by the golden ant (Philidris cordatus). The ants protect the plant by removing organisms that eat the leaves and, in return, the excreta nourish the plant. This mutual sharing for the benefit of both is called symbiosis. The seeds from the white, tubular flowers are transported to other trees by the mistletoebird (Dicaeum hirundinaceum). The Apollo jewel butterfly (Hypochrysops apollo apollo) lays its eggs on the plant. The eggs smell like the ants’ eggs, so the ants carry the eggs inside the plant where they go through larva and pupae stages to eventually emerge as butterflies. How busy and complex is the natural world we live in. The photo is mine taken in a butterfly house in Ireland. When we entered the area where there were 'real' butterflies, our cameras fogged up and we had trouble taking any decent photos. .