Science is Fun Fridays!

 


I learned something this weekend about ants, aphids, and sagebrush.

After coming across this above, I thought at first the ants were tending some larvae, but then I realized they were bugs too.  So I Googled and found out.

The aphids eat the sagebrush, and the ants farm them in doing so.  They'll move them around to different locations, protect them from predators, and milk them.  They stroke the aphids in a certain way and they exude a nectar that the ants eat.

This is called honeydew, a by-product of the sap they feed on.


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