Ants harvesting aphid honeydew on a plant in a tropical rainforest. Ants (family Formicidae) and aphids (superfamily Aphidoidea) have a symbiotic rela

---

Ants harvesting aphid honeydew on a plant in a tropical rainforest. Ants (family Formicidae) and aphids (superfamily Aphidoidea) have a symbiotic relationship. The ants feed on honeydew from the aphids and in return the ants protect the aphids and their eggs. Honeydew is a sugary substance excreted by the aphids as they feed on the sap from a plant's stem. Photographed in Ecuador.

---

Size: 5197px × 3425px
Photo credit: © PATRICK LANDMANN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: amazon, amazonian, america, american, animal, ant, ants, aphid, aphidoidea, arthropod, arthropoda, behaviour, biological, biology, bug, collect, collecting, cultivating, cultivation, ecuador, ecuadorean, ecuadorian, entomological, entomology, fauna, flora, forest, formicidae, harvest, harvesting, hemiptera, hemipteran, honeydew, insect, insects, invertebrate, mutualism, mutualist, mutualistic, mutualists, nature, plant, protecting, protection, rainforest, sap, social, south, stem, symbiont, symbionts, symbiosis, symbiotic, tropical, tropics, wildlife, zoological, zoology