Red ants feeding on cornflower bud

Lord VetinariLord Vetinari Registered Users Posts: 15,901 Major grins
edited May 9, 2010 in Holy Macro
See this every year with small groups of red ants clustered on the tops and sides of cornflower buds. Took me a while to work out what was going on but eventually spotted some honeydew drops leaking from the buds which the ants obviously love. These shots show a red ant feeding on the biggest honeydew droplets I've yet seen. Not worked out yet with the droplets are entirely natural or whether the red ants damage the buds to cause them to bleed.

Brian V.

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Brian V.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/
http://www.lordv.smugmug.com/

Comments

  • BassmanBassman Registered Users Posts: 10 Big grins
    edited May 9, 2010
    Simply put...AMAZING!
    Nikon D40 Nikon 16-85mm Tamron 70-300mm
  • DonRicklinDonRicklin Registered Users Posts: 5,551 Major grins
    edited May 9, 2010
    And they are presumably there to herd the aphids seen in the first image, too. Great series! thumb.gif

    Don
    Don Ricklin - Gear: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, was Pentax K7
    'I was older then, I'm younger than that now' ....
    My Blog | Q+ | Moderator, Lightroom Forums | My Amateur Smugmug Stuff | My Blurb book Rust and Whimsy. More Rust , FaceBook     .
  • Lord VetinariLord Vetinari Registered Users Posts: 15,901 Major grins
    edited May 9, 2010
    Thanks for the comments :)

    Don that is a small springtail in #1- I purposely double imaged it whilst hand focus stacking the shot :)
    Actually an odd start to the year - only seen one adult aphid in the whole garden so far - a lot of bugs are going to go hungry.

    Brian v.
    Brian V.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/lordv/
    http://www.lordv.smugmug.com/
  • DonRicklinDonRicklin Registered Users Posts: 5,551 Major grins
    edited May 9, 2010
    Ah, that's why your the expert and I'm not! :D

    Would hurt my brain thinking to realize it is the same small insect, twice in that forst image! Though that now makes sense. :lol

    Don
    Don Ricklin - Gear: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, was Pentax K7
    'I was older then, I'm younger than that now' ....
    My Blog | Q+ | Moderator, Lightroom Forums | My Amateur Smugmug Stuff | My Blurb book Rust and Whimsy. More Rust , FaceBook     .
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