Ants and spit-bubbles
I thought ants had nothing to do with spit-bubbles on plants. Yet today I watched a group of ants who seemed awfully interested in these bubbles. What’s up with that, do you think?
Filed in Gabriola Island,insects 5 Comments so far
5 Responses to “Ants and spit-bubbles”
Arlene on 24 May 2012 at 12:10 am #
Hi Gabriolan.. The ants could be eating the immature spittle bugs..hidden inside the bubbles and foam.. Or taking them ( immature spittle bugs ) away, to store as food.. For the ants’ nest. Sometimes there is a mature spittle bug, hidden inside the foam..as well.. Easy prey for a grouping of ants.
* During the hot days we had.. awhile ago.. I felt a sharp nipping on my feet.. As I hung out my laundry on the lines , in between the trees in my back forest.. I looked down to see a number of red ants.. running across my sandals and bare feet. Those little ants really had quite the bite !
Anon E Mouse on 24 May 2012 at 3:03 pm #
This is fascinating, Gabriolan. I think Arlene is on the right track, and here is another potential explanation – I just found an abstract of a scientific paper here http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00222933.2011.552800
Here’s what it says: Some Pentatomidae, which is the scientific name of the family of stinkbugs or spittlebugs, produce honeydew. Trophobiosis is defined as “a symbiotic relation in which one organism protects the other in return for some kind of food product”. So the ants in Brazil that they discuss in the paper are apparently “farming” stinkbugs the same way they do with aphids. I wonder if that’s also happening on Gabriola? I did scope around a bit online to see if I could find any instance of this being described from BC, but no success so far.
for anyone who wants to read the abstract of the paper about Brazil, here it is
In this study we describe trophobiosis between ants and Eurystethus microlobatus (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) at a highland quartzite rocky outcrop in southern Espinhaço Range, southeastern Brazil. We found stinkbugs exclusively on the mistletoe Psittacanthus robustus (Loranthaceae). The stinkbug species is gregarious, forming dense clusters, with females guarding eggs and young nymphs. In addition, this species presents cryptic colouration and most individuals were located on roots and shoots, camouflaged within the bark. Eurystethus microlobatus produced honeydew by day and night, and four ant species attended aggregations: Camponotus rufipes, Camponotus crassus, Camponotus melanoticus and Cephalotes pusillus. Camponotus rufipes was the most frequent and aggressive, and the only species to attend the stinkbugs by day and night. This is the first documented case of trophobiosis between true bugs and ants in the New World.
Anon E Mouse on 24 May 2012 at 3:24 pm #
Although just because the ant is eating the spittle from the stinkbug, it doesn’t necessarily follow that in this case they are farming stinkbugs. Could just be a random ant-finding-tasty-snack event.
Gabriolan on 25 May 2012 at 10:57 am #
I’d wondered about that, Arlene, but didn’t know much about what ants like for lunch. I’ll try to stay away from the red ants!
Gabriolan on 25 May 2012 at 10:59 am #
Thanks, Anon E Mouse! This is fascinating. Thanks so much for digging up a relevant paper for us.