thatching ants tending aphids on poplar - Formica obscuriventris -
near Cable, Bayfield County, Wisconsin, USA July 18, 2014 Size: 5-8.5
This is by far the most abundant rufa-group species north of the vegetation "Tension Zone" in Wisconsin.
The ants were tending aphids on the upper(!) side of balsam poplar leaves.
Anyone know the aphid?