Ants Farming Aphids

All kinds of wonderful wildlife can be found on an easy trek down the paths of Woodlands a Trail and Park.  From the Cardinals flittering from side to side to the killer dragonflies to the armadillos and ant farmers.  There is always something exciting and fun to see, hear, or experience.

But one example we spied today is a small colony of ants farming a clutch aphids.  The small black specks are apids beeing tended to by the numerous (and much larger) ants.  Akin to a farmer with a herd of cattle, these ants are “milking” these aphids on the newest stem of an older elderberry (total height = 3m tall, with this clump of insects at about 1.2m above ground).