Ant milking aphids. Close-up of a worker ant (Formica sp.) collecting honeydew from aphids (family Aphidae) on the leaf of a walnut tree. The ant stro

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Ant milking aphids. Close-up of a worker ant (Formica sp.) collecting honeydew from aphids (family Aphidae) on the leaf of a walnut tree. The ant strokes each aphid with its antennae and the aphid emits a drop of the sugary honeydew as nourishment for the ant. In return, the ant defends the aphids from predators such as ladybirds and lacewings.

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Size: 2480px × 3849px
Photo credit: © CLAUDE NURIDSANY & MARIE PERENNOU/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: animal, ant, aphid, aphids, formica, insect, insecta, invertebrate, invertebrates, leaf, milked, milking, nature, sp., symbiosis, walnut, wildlife, worker, zoology