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Mark Moffett
Mark Moffett

Public Documents 1
The First Cleaner Ant? A Novel Partnership in the Arizona Desert
Mark Moffett

Mark Moffett

March 12, 2026
I give details of the first known example of an ant (i.e., an undescribed Dorymyrmex close to D. medeis) that licks and nibbles on individuals of another, much larger ant species (workers of Pogonomyrmex barbatus) in much the way cleaner fish clean other species of fish. The Pogonomymex encourage this behavior by stationing themselves near Dorymyrmex nest entrances and even permit the Dorymyrmex to inspect between their open mandibles. The payoffs of this activity for both the cleaners and the tended workers have yet to be established.

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