Ants milking aphids
Bagworm moth ‘houses’!
These pics were taken on 18 June. I have heard a about bagworm moths and the “houses” their larvae make out of twigs and other materials, but I have never seen one…until today! Today I was tickled to find two of them in the garden!
The bagworm moth larvae collect small plant materials and attaches them around itself to make a nice little home. The bagworm moth larvae are mobile. It drags around everywhere it goes.
Additional garden pics from today
Milking the aphids!
These pics are from June 12 & 13. Some species of ants have a symbiotic relationship with aphids. The aphids feed on plant sap and produce a sugary secretion called honeydew that the ants eat. The ants “milk” the aphids by stroking them with their antennae to stimulate them to produce more honeydew for them to eat. The ants will in turn guard the aphids from other predators.
