The acacia tree provides a number of benefits to the Pseudomyrmex ants that llive on or near the trees. The trees provide shelter, protein, and nectar. The ants provides several forms of protection. They attack and remove herbivorous insects. They also remove vines that might overgrow the acacia and kill the growing shoots of nearby plants that might become competitors. The relationship between these ants and the acacia trees may best be described as A) competitive. B) mutualistic. C) predatory. D) symbiotic.