If you appreciate spring wildflowers like trilliums, bloodroot, or violets, restrain yourself the next time you're tempted to step on an ant.<br />That's because according to Science Magazine, many spring wildflowers in eastern North America bloom thanks to these energetic picnic invaders.<br />The tiny six-legged gardeners have partnered with those plants, as well as about 11,000 others, to disperse their seeds.<br />The plants, in turn, “pay” for the service by attaching a calorie-laden appendage to each seed.<br />According to Science Magazine, it's much like the fleshy fruits produced by birds and mammals that discard seeds or excrete them.<br />Not only that, but aphaenogaster ants also disperse up to 70% of seeds in deciduous forests.<br />But researchers say ants are picky about which seeds they 'work' with. Seeds they don't like will be left to rot, which impacts the ecology.
