I headed out for a walk the other day, thinking I might find bees on some of the wildflowers. I stopped and looked, closer and closer....
... and found an ant meandering up the raceme of almost-open blossoms. Looks like it barely escaped the fangs of a camouflaged flower spider! In all honesty, I didn't even see the spider until I looked at the photo later, on my computer.
So why did the ant climb up the cherry tree? Maybe it has a sweet tooth - er, mandible. Leaves of some species of wild cherry have extrafloral nectaries. Perhaps this ant is part of a pest-patrol?
Peonies provide nectar for ants that keep pesky plant-chewing bugs off their flowers and stems - you can find out more here.
Look closely this week.
Do you have ants on your plants?
I remember when peonies always bloomed in time for Memorial Day - which was always on May 31. And yes covered in ants!
ReplyDeleteCool to watch, right?
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