Unidentified Ant (Formica spp. ?)
Ants, Invertebrates Around Las Vegas, Wildlife Around Las Vegas
 
Ant (Formica spp.)

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)

Ant (Formica spp.) 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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