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Scale insect colony

Cryptes baccatus

Photo by MartinL
Published on Project Noah
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Field Notes

Description:

A colony of globular scale insects providing sweet honeydew to attendant ants through the black pore in each individual.
The ant in pic 3 appears to be a valentine ant and actively feeding on honeydew.

Habitat:

This colony is growing on Acacia.

Reference Links:

COCCOIDAE Soft Scale Insects

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (5)
MartinL
Yes Lyn, sometimes they make a great mess of their tree and drip sugar all over the place.
l.cook
These scale insects make a lot of honeydew and they provide a food source for many other insects (wasps, bees, flies etc) and birds, in addition to ants. I've seen honeyeaters licking them like a lollypop.
RiekoS
Yes, I totally agree.
MartinL
Thanks Reiko. These guys cannot move once they've anchored. What a life! When you're feeling down, at least you can be glad that you're not one of these.

Tags

Photographed
PublishedApril 27, 2013

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