The intriguing world of farmer ants 🐜 and captive aphids
The Intriguing World of Farmer Ants 🐜 and their Captive Aphids There is plenty of intrigue, nay brazen thuggery, in the garden ... if only you care to look closer. Take the case of garden black farming ants 🐜 ... that are very active in spring. Farmer Ants extracting honeydew from Aphids (Source: Originalbuttterflyhouse) I noticed the French chard which had overwintered in my garden, and was doing quite well until the leaves were getting predated by aphids - tiny black dots on the underside guarded by garden black farming ants!! Holes in French chard leaves due to aphid infestation Aphids feed primarily on the sap from plants, essentially sucking the nutrients from leaves and stems to secrete a sugary liquid called honeydew. This honeydew secretion is very sugar-rich and is devoured by ants as a food source. As a result, a mutualistic system (the National Geographic link below says the ants have gamed the system to favour them) has evolved wherein the farming black ants sh