Actually it's a peony flower with an ant on it or you might want to think of it as an ant on a peony flower. Either way, ants are still liking my poenies. :)
I think they really do go together. My grandma used to sat that there was a sweet nectar on the peonie bud that attracts the ants to help the flower open.
Contacts:
Donald Lewis, Entomology Extension, (515) 294-1101
Elaine Edwards, Extension Communication Systems, (515) 294-5168
Yard and Garden Column for the Week Beginning May 14
Ants, Bees and Ladybugs - Old Legends Die Hard
By Donald R. Lewis
Extension Entomologist
Iowa State University Extension
Everyone believes some facts that aren't true. We think we know something to be true only to discover that it is an urban legend, a folk tale, just a rumor or worst of all, a hoax.
This is certainly true for insects. A great deal of folklore about insects passes for fact but is actually misinformation. While most of this misinformation is harmless, it is still a good idea to know the truth.
For example, do you subscribe to the popular notion that ants must be present for peony blossoms to open? It seems logical enough, but there is no truth, whatsoever, to the long-standing, widespread and oft-repeated folk tale that ants are essential for the normal opening of peony flower buds.
It is true that there is a special relationship between ants and peony buds. However, the relationship is the reverse of what the folk tale claims. The peonies don't need the ants, but the ants do take advantage of the peonies!
Peony buds have very small extrafloral nectaries (special glands that produce nectar) along the outside edges of the scales that cover the developing buds. Ants devour this mixture of sugar, water and amino acids in what may resemble a feeding frenzy. In exchange for the free nectar, the ants drive off pests that might nibble on the buds. But rest assured that the peony flowers would open normally and on time even without ants walking across the surface of the bud.
@pandorasecho I saw somewhere where someone mentioned about the ants helping the peonies to open so I googled it, too, and found out what you fournd out. Thank you for posting the information. It is a good thing to know.
That's funny that people would think that the peonies need the ants! I always thought it was obvious that the ants just loved the sweet nectar covering the buds. Lovely photo
Extension Communications
3614 Administrative Services Building
Ames, Iowa 50011-3614
(515) 294-9915
5/10/99
Contacts:
Donald Lewis, Entomology Extension, (515) 294-1101
Elaine Edwards, Extension Communication Systems, (515) 294-5168
Yard and Garden Column for the Week Beginning May 14
Ants, Bees and Ladybugs - Old Legends Die Hard
By Donald R. Lewis
Extension Entomologist
Iowa State University Extension
Everyone believes some facts that aren't true. We think we know something to be true only to discover that it is an urban legend, a folk tale, just a rumor or worst of all, a hoax.
This is certainly true for insects. A great deal of folklore about insects passes for fact but is actually misinformation. While most of this misinformation is harmless, it is still a good idea to know the truth.
For example, do you subscribe to the popular notion that ants must be present for peony blossoms to open? It seems logical enough, but there is no truth, whatsoever, to the long-standing, widespread and oft-repeated folk tale that ants are essential for the normal opening of peony flower buds.
It is true that there is a special relationship between ants and peony buds. However, the relationship is the reverse of what the folk tale claims. The peonies don't need the ants, but the ants do take advantage of the peonies!
Peony buds have very small extrafloral nectaries (special glands that produce nectar) along the outside edges of the scales that cover the developing buds. Ants devour this mixture of sugar, water and amino acids in what may resemble a feeding frenzy. In exchange for the free nectar, the ants drive off pests that might nibble on the buds. But rest assured that the peony flowers would open normally and on time even without ants walking across the surface of the bud.