Weird looking aphids

Forehead

At least that's what I think they are. The ants crawling all over them seem to be getting gorged by the "honeydew" secretions from those little "cows":

photodoug

not aphids...I'm sure of that. not baby ladybugs either...dunno.

Skippy

Forehead wrote:

At least that's what I think they are. The ants crawling all over them seem to be getting gorged by the "honeydew" secretions from those little "cows":

I dont know what they are either, but it's interesting to watch the ants milk little critters.

I tried manipulating some aphids under the microscope with a probe and they began to excrete this milk substance the ants like, it was interesting to see.........maybe Brian knows what this little guys are ???

Thanks for sharing.......... Skippy (Australia)

Lord Vetinari

Interesting shot- think they might be treehopper nymphs but not sure
Brian V.

Lord Vetinari

Skippy wrote:

I tried manipulating some aphids under the microscope with a probe and they began to excrete this milk substance the ants like, it was interesting to see.....

Might not be quite what you think going on here. Aphids excrete honeydew from their normal digestive system- ie at the rear end, but they also have what I call their twin exhaust pipes sticking up normally about 2/3rds of the way down their abdomen. Apparently these are used to excrete signal pheromones including an alarm pheromone if they are attacked
Brian V.

Awais Yaqub

Wow very scary

Forehead

Although they do resemble baby ladybugs much more than aphids. Where's an entomologist wannabe when you need one?

photodoug wrote:

not aphids...I'm sure of that. not baby ladybugs either...dunno.