Queer Friendships 



man the manna of the Bible is " honey dew " of an 

 aphis which feeds on the tamarisk. The amount of 

 "honey dew" excreted by a healthy aphis is astonishing ; 

 the maple aphis has been observed to void forty-eight 

 drops in an hour. " A source of nutriment at once so 

 rich and so inexhaustible could hardly remain unnoticed 

 and unexploited by the ants in their interminable search 

 for liquid food." 



The behaviour of ants when they fall in with a colony 

 of green-fly is remarkable. Before the ants arrive on the 

 scene the aphides may be observed to discharge their 

 " honey dew" to a considerable distance. In the presence 

 of the ants, the droplets are simply allowed to escape and 

 not forcibly expelled. The ants wander about among 

 the aphides, pausing here and there, and frequently 

 caressing their friends on either side of their bodies with 

 their antennae. This gentle stroking causes the aphides 

 to void "honey dew," which is at once imbibed by the 

 ants. The operation is repeated again and again, usually 

 with success, but sometimes unsuccessfully. In the latter 

 event, the ant wastes no time with the aphid, but passes 

 to the next "cow" in the hope that it will prove more 

 fruitful. 



Sometimes the ants are so numerous and so persistent 

 in their attentions that the aphides literally become dried 

 up, then the only available course open to the ants is to 

 wait till their " cattle " have pumped up a fresh supply, 

 or to go on to a new colony. One thing is certain, an 

 aphid which contains " honey dew " never fails to give 

 it up to a soliciting ant, in fact the long-suffering insects 

 will often yield drop after drop in succession to one ant 

 after another. 



In connection with the well-authenticated friendship of 

 ants for aphides, a very ingenious though absolutely in- 

 accurate story has gone the rounds. On the backs of 

 many, though not of all, aphides there are two little 

 projections or tubercles. From these, it has been stated, 



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