Ant-sized Cows

If you’ve read my post from October 7, 2016 titled “Insects & Agriculture (Part II)”, you may recall some info on the relation that ants and aphids have with each other. Well, just over the weekend, I spotted ants sitting in the leaves of an apple tree. They weren’t moving around too much: just pacing back and forth along the leaf. But as I looked more closely, I noticed tiny green bumps on the leaves. These bumps weren’t the regular bumps you see on tree leaves that indicate that insects have been eating away at them but were, in fact, aphids. You can see a couple of the (albeit blurry) photos I took right here.

Unlike the way ants treat almost every other creature in their vicinity, ants treat aphids with the utmost care. By letting the aphids suck the moisture from the plant, the ants are able to obtain the honeydew that is produced by the aphids. While the ants provide the aphids with protection and “greener pastures”, the aphids pay the ants with the sweetest drops of honeydew.

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Theo's Rants & Inklings