Walking under the trees with Monty today I took a few shots of the sun shining though leaves. I thought the leaves were a really pretty colour on this young maple but when I got down underneath to take the shot I came across an aphid massacre.
Probably...the aphids secrete something sweet that the ants like. I had a twig growing out of the ground in my yard just covered in ants and aphids all summer. We left it alone, even though it was in the way, hoping that they would come back this year, We constantly had to warn people not to walk into it...no one wants angry ants! They bite
Great stuff - but rather scary - I've always been secretly a little scared of ants since seeing a Tarzan film when I was little where a horde of soldier ants ate someone alive ... happens all the time in Walthamstow you know ...
It is amazing what you see and learn on this site, I knew ants are good for a garden as they eat the anphids but the 'farm' them, wow. This is a great close up Judith.
You were right though...they were probably attacking this herd of aphids...I never actually read about how they got the aphids..whew, kind of brutal...but fascinating too
Quite an amazing close-up.
@5unflow3r That's so interesting, I didn't know anything about that. Loads of things happening in your yard btw...!