Together We Fight Analysis

Together We Fight by JGardener

Tourists on an African safari snap photos of tall grasses, bushes, and a couple of acacia trees here and there. In the distance, a group of giraffes graze. Along with the rustling of the wind over the landscape, a gentle whistling resounds. A giraffe approaches and starts munching away on the leaves of one of the acacia trees. Cameras click in rapid succession. Suddenly, the huge mammal utters a horrific grunt of pain and runs away shaking its head. “What just happened?” everybody asks in wonderment. Their tour guide turns to them and says, “Let me tell you about a peculiar and special relationship between a tree and a type of ant here in Africa.” In the savannas of Africa the acacia tree
Joined in pairs at the base of a hollow round bulbous swelling, the thorns measure about three centimeters in diameter. The acacia does not produce the swollen thorns in response to any physical or chemical stress. Rather, they comprise part of the tree’s defense system even though not entirely effective. Despite their intimidating appearance, the thorns do not prevent herbivores from coming and dining on the delicious leaves. The article “Whistling Thorn” explains, “This particular acacia does not have the toxic chemicals that ward off insects and prowlers like other species of acacias do” (Benders-Hyde). For this reason, the acacia tree must turn outside itself to its only friend and help, a special variety of acacia
In the rainy season, the soil turns into black and sluggish mud, while during the dry season it dries up and cracks, making life underground hard for the mighty ants. The other reason why these insects live on the acacia has to do with the surprising thorn home the acacia furnishes for them. The symbiotic relationship between the ant and acacia starts when the alluring scent from the acacia attracts a newly mated queen. She then scrambles onto the tree, finds the perfect thorn, and gnaws away at it until she has an opening into which she crawls and lays her eggs. As the colony grows, the ants help the tree reproduce by taking its seeds to favorable germination sites