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The Conversation USA

Parasitic flies, zombified ants, predator beetles – insect drama on Mexican coffee plantations

  • Written by Kate Mathis, Research Associate in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona
imageAzteca ants, unsung heroes of coffee pest control.Kate Mathis, CC BY-ND

Ants are voracious predators and often very good at defending plants from herbivores. People have taken advantage of this quirk for centuries. In fact, using ants in orange groves is one of the first recorded pest control practices, dating back to A.D. 304 in China.

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