Dodonaea viscosa, the Sticky Hop-bush, has winged fruits which are covered with a protective sticky resin. Sap sucking aphids feeding on these fruits are farmed by ants for their ‘honeydew’ secretions.
Ants farming aphids
Black-headed Bull Ant
Black-headed Bull Ant in Copley, Flinders Ranges (20mm).
Read about bull ants in the Australian Geographic article Australia’s native bull ants are really just wingless wasps.
Quartz ant mound
Ant architecture
Ant constructions observed directly after summer flooding in the Northern Flinders Ranges.
Ants farming aphids
Iridomyrmex ants farming herds of aphids (and their white nymphs) in Spring in Beltana. The aphids feed on the sap, in this case of an Eremophila biserrata, and excrete sugary ‘honeydew’ which is farmed by agricultural ants in exchange for protection.
Ant cup
Ant architecture on the salty shore of Halligan Bay, Lake Eyre North.
