What is the relationship between ants and aphids?
Who of us has not seen ants guarding aphids on a variety of plants? Honeydew is the reason that ants associate with aphids with some ants now almost dependant on aphids and some aphids will not excrete honeydew unless stimulated by ants. One particular aphid Paracletus cimiciformis is only found in the nests of the ant Tetramorium caespitum where it is fed and cared for by ants even though it now rarely if ever excretes honeydew. It has evolved in fact into a parasite and gains most of its food from the ants who offer it nectar. On plants, ants tend to herd aphids to the tops of plants which in fact has been found to render them more liable to predation. It has been found that ant attended aphids are 10 times more likely to be parasitised than unattended ones. In some interesting research carried out last year by researchers at the University of Utah and reported in the May 9 2003 issue of the journal Science, it was found that some tree dwelling ants that were thought to eat other ins
