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Project Noah Nature School
Ants on plants! We spotted this cluster of hundreds of ants at the top of a bush while walking near Mount Tibrogargan in the Glasshouse Mountains. I'm not sure what kind of ants they were, but after doing some research on the Imperial Blue Butterfly which I photographed on the same bush, I discovered that Imperial Blue caterpillars hang about on acacia leaves and are always attended by ants as the caterpillars secrete a substance that attracts them. Looking very closely at this pic again, I believe I can see caterpillar shapes under the clusters of ants. Fascinating!!! Imperial Blue Butterfly spotting: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/897...
Spotted on Feb 11, 2012
Submitted on Feb 13, 2012
1 Comment
:) ants on plants... I've since found several butterflies (Lycaenidae) and ants (Anonychomyrma) indulge in this behaviour.