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Dolichoderine ants are high-energy insects. The Azteca ants that rule tropical rainforest canopies, for example, get many of their carbohydrates from relationships with honeydew-producing scale insects. Jatun Sacha, Napo, Ecuador
Ants and scale insects are often tight ecological associates, even under the soil. Here, a first instar ground pearl (Eurhizococcus brasiliensis) is carried by a Linepithema micans worker. The ground pearls produce honeydew that feeds the ants, while the ants protect the pearls and carry their young to new host plants. Bento Gonçalves, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
First and second instar ground pearls, Eurhizococcus, on a cassava tuber. Bento Gonçalves, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Ants and scale insects are often tight ecological associates, even under the soil. Here, a first instar ground pearl (Eurhizococcus brasiliensis) is carried by a Linepithema micans worker. The ground pearls produce honeydew that feeds the ants, while the ants protect the pearls and carry their young to new host plants. Bento Gonçalves, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
A Crematogaster acrobat ant worker tends eucalypt scale insects for honeydew. Harrietville, Victoria, Australia
A Crematogaster acrobat ant worker tends eucalypt scale insects for honeydew. Harrietville, Victoria, Australia
A Crematogaster acrobat ant worker tends eucalypt scale insects for honeydew. Harrietville, Victoria, Australia
A minor worker of Camponotus floridanus tending scale insects. Camponotus are more dependent on honeydew-producing insects than are most other ant species, and their guts contain highly specialized microbes that help the ants thrive on the carbohydrate-rich diet. Archbold Biological Station, Florida
Camponotus floridanus tending scale insects. Archbold Biological Station, Florida, USA
A Crematogaster acrobat ant worker tends eucalypt scale insects for honeydew.

Harrietville, Victoria, Australia
A Crematogaster acrobat ant worker tends eucalypt scale insects for honeydew. Harrietville, Victoria, Australia
A Crematogaster acrobat ant worker tends eucalypt scale insects for honeydew.

Harrietville, Victoria, Australia
See photo in original gallery.
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all images and text © Alex Wild 2001-2013