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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and other Stinging Wasps » Vespoidea » Ants (Formicidae)
Photo#43115
Ant caring for aphid
Copyright © 2006 Lynette Schimming

Ant caring for aphid
Fort Bragg, Cumberland County, North Carolina, USA
February 14, 2006
Size: under 5 mm
To see this photo the ant looks viscious, but to watch it care for this little aphid gives one a whole new perspective.
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Contributed by Lynette Schimming on 17 February, 2006 - 8:52am

Aphid?
The hind legs and the body shape don't look like those of an aphid- nymph of some hopper, perhaps?
… Chuck Entz, 18 February, 2006 - 9:36am login or register to post comments

 
Yes aphid
I'm pretty sure, but not positive...I guess it could be a mimic of some kind....I don't know why the ant would be tending to it, though.
This page shows a Blue Aphid with long rear legs. I'm not sure that's what the aphid in this photo is, though. Also check out the legs on this aphid...

… Lynette Schimming, 18 February, 2006 - 10:37am login or register to post comments

 
Just my impression
I don't pretend to know aphids that much, so you may very well be right. As for the ant-tending, a surprising variety of Homopterans exude honeydew and are tended by ants.
… Chuck Entz, 18 February, 2006 - 1:05pm login or register to post comments

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