Army ant raids connect terrestrial and aquatic food webs in mangroves.

Army ant raids by Eciton burchellii parvispinum in Yucatán mangroves are linked to localized feeding aggregations among aquatic vertebrates, with prey escape becoming a terrestrial subsidy.

• Why it matters: It is unclear whether terrestrial predators can move energy across ecosystem boundaries, despite the idea that cross-ecosystem subsidies can reshape food webs.
• What they did: The team used stomach-content analyses of fishes attending raids at four independent Eciton colonies, plus observations across six colonies, to track diet shifts and predator aggregation patterns.
• The result: Prey escaping ant predation is associated with marked changes in fish diet and recurrent higher-order predator aggregations, indicating a cross-ecosystem pathway in these mangroves.

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