Circle of Life
Location: Contra Costa County, CA
October 13, 2011 9:17 pm
Saw this guy flipping around on a leaf while hiking along the edge of a marsh. Didn’t even see the ant until I looked at the picture on my camera. I wasn’t able to stick around to see who won, but I know those ants aggressively defend their eucalyptus.
Signature: Fel
Dear Fel,
We cannot imagine what the Ant is doing to the Midge. You actually witnessed it, so you think it looked like a battle. We sense that this is some symbiotic relationship or possibly a one sided relationship. Perhaps this became Phoresy after the camera stopped running.
The midge was flipping around like he was trying to get away but the ant had a good grip on him. Those eucalyptus have some sort of psyllid insect, tortoise beetles (fast little buggers), and those ants. If you touch the leaves, the ants come running so I assumed the ant was defending his territory.