6 replies to this topic

[AntsBrazil]

Hello, I would like to know what are those ants doing(I don't know their genus), they seem to be doing something to these black things in this plant(Bismarckia nobilis), I don't think they are aphids.

 

 

 

[Serafine]

These are scale insects (in german they're called shield lice).

 

https://en.wikipedia...ki/Scale_insect

 

"There are many variations on such themes, such as scale insects that are associated with species of ants that act as herders and carry the young ones to favorable protected sites to feed. In either case, many such species of crawlers, when they change their skins, lose the use of their legs if they are female, and stay put for life. Only the males retain their legs and use them in seeking females for mating."

Edited by Serafine, February 10 2017 - 5:40 AM.

[AntsBrazil]

Then the ants are eating something that they produce, like how they do with the aphids ?

[AnthonyP163]

Yes, probably. Try to identify what it is, because it might not be known about.

[drtrmiller]

Definitely a sap-sucking homopteran of some sort.

 

If you examine with a magnifying glass in the field, I'm sure you'll find them excreting little droplets of honeydew that the ants consume immediately.

[Serafine]

Then the ants are eating something that they produce, like how they do with the aphids ?

Yes, scale insects suck plant juices and excrete sugar like aphids do.

[AntsBrazil]

Thanks for the answers.