The little aphides are also known as plant lice. They feed on the juices of plant stems, leaves and roots.
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They are small, soft bodied and weak. But they have one characteristic that has stood them in good stead for millions of years. They suck more fluid from plants than they need. This surplus oozes out of their bodies in the form of a sweet excretion known as honeydew.
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This is delicious food for ants. So the ants and aphides have developed a sort of mutual accommodation. The ant strokes the aphid and is rewarded with a drop of honeydew. In return the aphid enjoys a body guard of attendant ants that may keep away predatory insects etc.
In summer there are many generations of short lived females each of which can reproduce up to 100 young, without fertilization. The ants do not herd the aphides like cattle. The aphid form herds of their own, sometimes numbering 80 – 100 individuals, whether or not ants are present. The ants merely locate these aggregations and take advantage of them. Nor do ants put the aphides out to pasture, except in a few ant species.
Hence aphides are also described as "ant's cows".
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