Worker to consume plant with animals (9)

I believe the answer is:

anteaters

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'animals' is the definition.
(anteater is a kind of animal)

'worker to consume plant' is the wordplay.
'worker' becomes 'ant' (worker is a type of ant).
'to consume plant' becomes 'eaters' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'ant'+'eaters'='ANTEATERS'

'with' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for anteaters that I've seen before include "they take in the workers" , "More than one insectivore" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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