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Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Picture: Ants on a Centaurea bud

Didn't seem quite right to tag this as a "pretty picture." It's not especially pretty. But "unpretty picture" seemed harsher than necessary. So it's neither. Just a picture. (It is somewhat more attractive close-up, though: try opening in a new window for best effect.)


It would appear that maybe peonies are not the only flowers that enlist the aid of ants in opening their flower buds. Or maybe there's some other reason why they would be so interested in this particular bud. I don't know. Fairly certain there's an explanation somewhere.
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3 comments:

  1. Kenneth MooreJune 17, 2009 at 2:57 AM

    Oh that makes me sad--I like Centurea. I hope it's alright. I have an aversion to ants (whether they're beneficial or not), 'cause we had a crazy flying-ant colony under (and in) our house for the longest time. I have a hatred of them that almost rivals the cockroaches that infested our dishwasher the years before.

    But here's a post with a picture of a hosta flower inflorescense going through something similar... I think there, some parts had been damaged by aphids, so the ants might have smelled a meal. I don't see anything else on the Centurea, but who knows? They're tricky critters.

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  2. Sunita Mohan June 17, 2009 at 3:17 AM

    It does have a certain somehing though. Like embroidery. The ants look like they have been pinned there on purpose.

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  3. PeterJune 18, 2009 at 8:15 AM

    aphids?
    http://notexactlyrocketscience.wordpress.com/2007/10/09/ants-herd-aphids-with-tranquilisers-in-their-footsteps/

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