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Kalidasa lanata
Lanternflies feed on tree/plant sap and discard the excess which is a complex mixture of nutrients. Making the most of that, Ants attend to such aphids in order to absorb the nutrients from its secretions. Spotted a number of Lanternflies on a tree along with a trail of ants.
Rainforest and Evergreen forest of Agumbe which is a part of the Western Ghats. It is also recognized as one of the world’s eight hottest hotspots' of biological diversity, inscribed in the UNESCO World Natural Heritage sites list in July 2012
A great axample of symbiotic relationship between Ants and Aphids.
Spotted on Jul 19, 2017
Submitted on May 31, 2018
9 Comments
Lovely image and a belated congrats on your sotd.
Congratulations Vipul ! I like the generic name - named after the 5th century Sanskrit poet and dramatist.
Great shot Vipul,amazing details,congrats on the well deserved SOTD and thanks for sharing
!!!!!!
Congratulations for the SOTD ...
Congratulations Vipul, your lanternfly is our Spotting of the Day!
One slight correction: aphids also excrete honeydew, but lanternflies are not aphids (suborder Sternorrhyncha). They belong to a different suborder of hemipterans (suborder Auchenorrhyncha, infraorder Fulgoromorpha - that makes them planthoppers).
"What is an ant doing following a lanternfly in our Spotting of the Day? It is actually gathering honeydew. Honeydew is a sugar-rich liquid excreted by insects that feed on plant sap. Examples of such insects include aphids (suborder Sternorrhyncha) and lanternflies (planthoppers in the family Fulgoridae). Project Noah member Vipul Ramanuj observed a number of lanternflies on a tree being followed by a trail of ants. The species of lanternfly seen here is Kalidasa lanata. Like all 6 species is the genus Kalidasa, it has a stalk-like outgrowth arising from the tip of the snout, well visible in this image".
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Great photo and good notes. Thanks for sharing.
Excellent photo showing the insects' behavior!
Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated!