Langstone, Hampshire: A symbiotic relationship means the black ants don’t damage the flowers and protect them from harmful insects
At the end of March, small holes began appearing in the balding patch of lawn at the base of my brick-built raised beds, each surrounded by a ring of excavated earth as fine as sawdust. Dug out by black garden ants (Lasius niger), these are portals to a subterranean network of tunnels and chambers housing a queen and her colony of 4,000-7,000 workers.
While the queen remains below ground, the workers forage widely for food, following scent trails laid down by scouts. During the past two weeks they have found my herbaceous peonies irresistible, scaling the two-foot-tall stems to feast on the sweet nectar secreted by the tightly bound flower buds. Oozing from the nectaries at the base of the bud, viscous globules dot the edge of the sepals.
Continue reading...from Property | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Mu61Xc
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