hello everyone
some images of Milking of aphids made ​​by ants
Milking of aphids
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
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Aphids
When I moved into my house in Phoenix, Arizona I had two huge fig trees in my back yard. If you stood under them you feel a mist of this falling aphid nectar on your skin.
Some of our friends offered to take the figs off our hands, not being aware of fig wasps laying their eggs in the figs.
Eventually I took out the fig trees because the fallen fruit fed a huge swarm of Drosophila.
Some of our friends offered to take the figs off our hands, not being aware of fig wasps laying their eggs in the figs.
Eventually I took out the fig trees because the fallen fruit fed a huge swarm of Drosophila.
Michael Reese Much FRMS EMS Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
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- rjlittlefield
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Excellent images!
--Rik
In English the drops are called "honeydew". The aphids eat plant sap, extract what they need, and exude the rest -- mostly sugars -- in these little drops. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeydew_(secretion) for extended discussion.carlos wrote:...those drops are not dew but what expel the aphids and the ants eat. It 'a saccharine substance
--Rik