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What are these ant farmers tending?

B3B3 Posts: 27,505
edited June 2023 in Wildlife gardening

I must admit,  I've  never noticed an aphid egg anywhere  before.  Is that what they are?
Edit: enlarged photo. The eggs have legs! It must be an aphid nursery, do you think?
In London. Keen but lazy.

Posts

  • Slow-wormSlow-worm Posts: 1,630
    Got to be hasn't it? Unless someone else knows different?
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Definitely aphids. No idea what kind though.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Do the ants keep the sparrows off? The front garden is full of sparrows. I've not seen any other aphids at all.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698
    Aphids go in for parthenogenesis which basically means that the females reproduce without the need for a male. They give birth to daughters that are already primed to do what their mothers managed so there is a waterfall of daughters giving birth to daughters and so on all through the summer. Obviously there are a few males around so a spot of beastliness occurs in the autumn. Without sexual reproduction they would end up like the Hapsburgs.
  • RedwingRedwing Posts: 1,511

    Aphids  feed on the sap of plants. Excess sugars from the sap are excreted by the aphid in a concentrated form called honeydew, which in turn is fed on by the ants by ‘milking’ the aphids. The ants protect the aphids from predators so they can continue feeding on the honeydew. They then regurgitate it to their larvae.


    Based in Sussex, I garden to encourage as many birds to my garden as possible.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    They also rip off their wings to stop them flying away.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • TheGreenManTheGreenMan Posts: 1,957
    This is all awful. 

    I’m concreting my gardens. 
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Better stop eating meat too. Human farmers are just as bad.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
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