Bird of Paradise

Am no entomologist, but wonder if the ants munch on, or have other uses for, the plant's secretions... Do you know? And, just to poke some fun, what is your excuse for compromised sharpness -- hand held?

Hi Igor, thanks for the comment...

With regard to the ants, I'm guessing that they are actually after aphids which secrete some form of substance which ants like...

With regard to the sharpness, yes, this is handheld but also its a scan of a print which may explain it...

Thanks and regards,

Mike

...used to catch aphids as a kid. Never saw them as on top of plants secreting creatures. Thought it was the high carbs of the natural sugars of the flowering plant the ants are after...

Honey-dew is referenced in the last lines of Samuel Coleridge's poem Kubla Khan, perhaps because of its mythological connotations:

And all who heard should see them there,

And all should cry, Beware! Beware!

His flashing eyes, his floating hair!

Weave a circle round him thrice,

And close your eyes with holy dread,

For he on honey-dew hath fed,

And drunk the milk of Paradise.

 

You've captured a symbiotic token here... :)