Not a mirror image, as there are two of them! These odd-looking bugs are tri-horned treehoppers. At only about 3mm, they were super tiny, and I really had no idea they looked this strange until I looked at my own shots on the computer screen.
Treehoppers feed on the sap of plants and trees. As you can see in my shot, there are ants beside them. The reason for the ants being attracted to these treehoppers is a simple one: Excess sap is excreted by the treehoppers as honeydew, and the ants like this sweet stuff! In return, the ants provide these treehoppers protection from predators and other insects.
That's another creature that I'd never heard of or seen a photo of till now. Wish I'd had teachers like you at school Livia :)
So the ants eat the Treehoppers poo......hmmmm
Wonderful capture and a great explanation. In our country ants do this with greenfly`s/blackfly`s/aphis. So if you see ants on you bushes control it on greenfly`s also.
The branch, the treehoppers, the ants, everything almost mirrors - your timing is impeccable! I hope there's a book of insect portraits and stories in the pipeline....
You are certainly winding up your last few days in stunning style Livia, you really have to keep posting (if not quite so regularly), your insect macro work is first class!
A great, big, seemingly mirrored, two-by-two, not-so-guarded, grateful "THANK YOU!" to everyone! Don't these treehoppers look fascinating? Nature continues to surprise me. Thank you so much for your kind support. 11 days to go!
Incredibly cool capture! - Insect cattle! - I thought aphids were the only insects groomed like this - I can see why insects provide so much inspiration for Sci-fi and horror writers!
So the ants eat the Treehoppers poo......hmmmm
great shot