Ant milking aphids.

Ant milking an aphid for honeydew liquid.
The above photo represents one of the best images I captured this summer.  While camping near  Salmon Arm this summer I would spend part of my day wandering about with my macro gear.  I came across a busy ant colony and discovered that they were "milking" a herd of aphids.  Ants stroke their antennae across the back of an aphid and it responds by secreting a drop of sugary liquid from its abdomen.  The ant consumes the liquid and brings it back to the colony for dissemination. 

This relationship between the aphid and the ant is a form of symbiosis called mutualism.  Both species benefit; the ant gets the sweet liquid and the aphid is protected.  Ants guard their aphids not so differently from the way a farmer guards a herd of cattle.  They protect them from predators such as ladybugs which will voraciously consume the little sugar factories if left unguarded.  One ant by itself may not be much of a threat, but if they swarm the intruder they are very capable of successfully defending their wards.

I particularly like this picture because the above image was just about what I saw in my camera when I took the shot.  I used a D7200 Nikon with a 105 mm macro lens and an extension tube to allow me even more magnification.  The original image is 24 megapixels; it can produce a very sharp 24"x36" print.  The leaf behind the ant prevents the background from being black and outlines the subjects nicely.  I used a triple set of macro lights for illumination; the aperture was f/57 and the shutter speed was 1/250th of a second.

Thanks for reading.   www.ericspix.com

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