These plants develop mutualistic relationships with species of ants, which provide the plant with food, and sometimes help cultivate it, in return for shelter and snacks. Chomicki has found that Squamellaria plants can prevent cooperation from breaking down by isolating their ant “guests” within physical compartments — and that they are far from the only species doing this.

Chomicki described this and other intriguing examples in the Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics,