When the large bees cease their visits as they may in
long-continued dull or rainy weather, the rose, turning toward
the sun, stands more or less obliquely, and some of the pollen
must fall on its stigma. Occasional self-fertilization matters
little.
If plants have insect benefactors, they have their foes as well
and hordes of tiny aphids, commonly known as green flies or plant
lice, moored by their sucking tubes to the tender sprays of
roses, wild and cultivated, live by extracting their juices. A
curious relationship exists between these little creatures and
the ants, which "milk" them by stroking and caressing them with
their antennae until they emit a tiny drop of sweet, white fluid.
The yellow ant, that lives an almost subterranean life, actually
domesticates flocks and herds of root-feeding aphids; the brown
ant appropriates those that live among the bark of trees; and the
common black garden ant (Lasius niger), devoting itself to the
aphis of the rose bushes, protects it in extraordinary ways,
delightfully described by the author of "Ants, Bees, and Wasps.
Pages:
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251