Lasius niger farming Anoecia cornicola

Lasius niger farming Anoecia cornicola

Description

Title:
Lasius niger farming Anoecia cornicola
Caption / Description:

A black garden ant (Lasius niger) farms White-banded Dogwood Aphids (Anoecia cornicola) for sweet honeydew.

The ant 'milks' the aphids by stroking them with its antennae, encouraging the aphids to produce the honeydew. In return the ant will protect the aphids from predators such as ladybirds. Sometimes the ants will pick up aphids and move them to another part of the plant, or a new plant to start a new colony or 'farm'.

The White-banded Dogwood Aphid (Anoecia cornicola) is an aphid that feeds on Dogwood (Cornus), the ones in this image they are feeding on Cornus alba. The winged form of Anoecia cornicola has a white band around the top of the abdomen, and a prominent black spot at the end of the principal veins. The cornicles in Anoecia cornicola are merely pores.

The black garden ant (Lasius niger) is the most common ant seen in Britain. The worker ants, which are the ones you will normally see (and shown here) are non-reproductive females. They are dark brown, covered in small hairs, and around 3-5mm long.

Tags / Keywords:
  • Biota
  • Life
  • Vitae
  • Eukaryota
  • Animalia
  • Animals
  • Arthropoda
  • Arthropods
  • Insecta
  • Insects
  • Hemiptera
  • True bugs
  • Hymenoptera
  • Bees
  • Ants
  • Wasps
  • Formicidae
  • Lasius
  • Lasius niger
  • Black garden ant
  • Aphididae
  • Anoecia
  • Anoecia cornicola
  • White-banded Dogwood Aphid

Admin

Date Original Photo Taken:
Original File Name:
_MG_2401.CR2
Event:
Rating:
Date this image added/last updated on website:
Original File Dimensions:
4004px x 2661px
File Type:
JPEG
Color Mode:
RGB
Original Image Color Profile:
Adobe RGB (1998)

Location

Location Created:
Sublocation:
City:
Market Harborough
Province/State:
Leicestershire
Country:
United Kingdom
World Region:
Europe
Geo-location:

Rights

Copyright Status:
Copyrighted
Licensing Status:
Rights Managed
Available for Editorial Use:
Yes
Available for Commercial Use:
Yes
Copyright Notice:
© 2010 Dave Kennard

Camera Data

Date Digital Resource was created:
Shutter speed:
1200 s
Aperture:
f/8
Camera Model:
Canon EOS 450D
ISO:
100
Exposure Compensation:
0
Focal Length:
65mm
Focal Length (35mm equiv.):
Metering Mode:
Multi-segment
Flash:
On, Fired
Exposure Mode:
Manual
White Balance:
Manual
Light Source:
Exposure Program:
Manual

Additional shooting metadata

Lens:
Canon MP-E 65mm F2.8 1-5x Macro
Filters used:
Additional Optics used:
Setup:
Handheld
Canon MT-24EX Macro Twin Flash with home-made concave diffusers

Post Processing

Image Modified:
Software used:
  • Adobe Camera RAW
Post Processing:

Cropped in ACR