Ants Tending Aphids on Soursop
Posted by aubreymoore on 13 Dec 2008 at 11:42 am | Tagged as: Uncategorized
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- Ants tending aphids on soursop
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- Ants attending aphids on soursop plus unidentified larvae
My friend Alan Davis, who lives on Saipan sent me these images and poses the following questions:
“I started a photo study of two flowers, and this soursop is a goldmine. I see a winged beast, and aphids, and ants. I started this morning to look at the ants, see whether they are seeking honeydew. Now I also see these ?pupae, but don’t have a clear shot yet. ”
“I also remembered the bands on the abdomens of the ants—was it they are FULL when the bands appear?”
Hi Alan,
The ants are Anoplolepis gracilipes, the yellow crazy ant. They are often seen attending aphids which are sometimes referred to as “ant cows” because the ants milk their honeydew. In return for the honeydew, the ants protect the aphids fron attack by predators and parasites. I don’t recognize the white immatures (look like larvae, not pupae to me) in the second image. Did you see any interactions between them and the ants or the aphids? It would be great if you could rear some of these to adults so we can identify them.
After imibing lots of honeydew or nectar, the abdomens of yellow crazy ants expand like an accordion. Thus the appearance of bands. If an ant is feeding on a colored liquid, you will see the color through the translucent exoskeleton of the abdomen. I have collected A. gracilipes with bright green abdomens.
4 Responses to “Ants Tending Aphids on Soursop”
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Upon further consideration. I think the white larvae are syrphid maggots which prey on aphids. They have no legs and simple mouth hooks for mouthparts.
Thank you. Hover flies are fascinating. I also recognize the “crazy ant” as common. I saw them on Nama Island, my son’s island in the Northern Mortlocks. They are awesome fast.
The ants seemed to be intensely interested in the region at the tip of the Soursop flower, where the larvae were located. I made a little digital cam video of this flower, and I’ll check it. Can this be posted here as well, if interesting?
One more question, though. The winged beasts look to have aphid bodies. Is this an alate stage of aphid?
Alan,
You have both apterous (wingless) and alate (winged) mature aphids in your images. If aphids are feeding on stressed or dying plants, a higher proportion of alates will be produced. These alates disperse in search of new plant hosts.
Aphids are easy to recognize because they have a couple of tubes called cornicles poking out of their abdomens.