This is where ants come in to play. Ants are incredibly smart.
Ants are the very bestest of best friends with aphids -- so if you see an ant carrying an
aphid through your garden, it's not because it's been a successful hunt. It's because ants are little aphid ranchers. They will guard their
aphid ranch on whatever plant they are on because aphids pee out the
excess sugar from the plant sap they suck out of your plants (called
"honeydew"), and they will kill ladybugs & ladybug larvae on their
ranches. The ants will spend the entire season drinking up the sugary
liquid, and take it back to the nest to feed to the larvae & other
workers that don't leave the nest.
They are known to
not only manage their aphid ranches, they will carry them to new food
sources, knowing that the lone aphid will then start birthing more
aphids, which means more honeydew for the ants.
Ants are also known to farm funguses -- way down in the deepest parts of the nest, they'll have "rooms" that are dedicated to feeding their fungus. They'll take fresh grass clippings to the farm, an some even have sharp mandibles that evolved for the ants to cut pieces of live leaves off. The ants are also great engineers -- the nests are vented to keep the fungus (and the queen, eggs & larvae) at the optimal temperature, with lots of airflow bringing oxygen in.
Like I said, incredibly smart.
Stay tuned for Part 3: Ladybugs ...
