Mir fiel vorhin eine einzelne alate #Formica s. str. (Waldameise) Königin an einem kleinen Ahorn auf und offenbar war da irgendwo ein Nest in der Nähe. Am Nachbarbaum waren eine Menge Arbeiterinnen unterwegs, die Blattläuse hoch an die jungen Knospen gebracht und gegen Marienkäfer verteidigt haben.

#ants #ameisen #aphids

A Formica incerta field ant worker drinks nectar from a Queen Anne's Lace. Tennessee.

#Formica #Ants #Insects

Silky field ants tending black locust treehoppers for honeydew. Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

#Ants #Insects #Nature #Treehoppers #Formica

The #slave #ant #Formica #fusca (#Formicinae) is seen here on common #tansy collecting #honeydew from and guarding the #aphid #Metopeurum #fuscoviride. The #workers of this ant #species, which builds #polygynous subterranean nests, are often exploited by other species for nest building. As C. Carere et al. (2018) found, there is a linear link between #individual and #collective #behavior.

©#StefanFWirth Berlin 2025

Ref
C. Carere et al. (2018)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2018.07.009

#Photos
©S F. Wirth 2025

The #Norwaymaple #Acer #platanoides is a native #tree of (Central) #Europe that spread northward after the last #IceAge along with mixed oak forests and is still commonly found in such #treecommunities today. Like all #trees, it offers #habitats for numerous organisms, forming complex macro#ecosystems, e.g., the #leaves, where #aphids feed, while the #ant #Formica #fusca is collecting their excretions (honeydew) as food.
#ecology #evolution
© #StefanFWirth #Berlin May 2025

#Photos
© S.F. Wirth

The #duskyant, #Formica #fusca (#Myrmicinae), is a ground-dwelling #ant with #earthnests in warmer habitats, widespread in #CentralEurope and extending across the western #Palearctic. The nests are #polygynous (severely active #queens). Like many ant species, this one also carries #phoretic organisms on its body, e.g., #mites of the #Histiostomatidae. #biodiversity #insects #Hymenoptera

© #StefanFWirth, #Berlin May 2025

Artistic Photo:

#Worker of F. fusca Berlin, May 2025, © S.F. Wirth