Ants, Invertebrates Around Las Vegas, Wildlife Around Las Vegas
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General: Ants tending aphids on a Narrowleaf Cottonwood in the Sheep Range. Taxonomy: Ants: Class Insecta (Insects), Order Hymenoptera (Stinging Insects), Family Formicidae (Ants), Subfamily Formicinae Aphids: Class Insecta (Insects), Order Hemiptera (True Bugs), Suborder Sternorrhyncha (Plant-parasitic Hemipterans), Superfamily Aphidoidea, Family Aphididae (Aphids) |
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Ants tend aphids the way humans tend cows. The ants herd the aphids around, care for them, and keep them safe from predators (these ants attacked me while I was photographing the aphids). In exchange, the ants collect sweet "honeydew" from the aphids. |
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