tiny mealybug nymph is on the move. The legs don't seem to grow in proportion when it comes to mealybugs - they need to move once they've found their place in the world. Oxley Creek, Qld.
A technomyrmex ant shelters at the base of a wax straw dripping with honeydew. The straw is produced by a scale insect buried under the bark. Oxley Creek, QLD.
A peeled cross-section of bark reveals a scale insect and its waxy extrusion. The wax straw ants sip honeydew from can be seen bottom left. Oxley Creek, QLD.
A peeled section of bark reveals a scale insect and its waxy extrusion. The blurred white line bottom right is the wax straw ants sip honeydew from. Oxley Creek, QLD.
Scale insect buried in the bark of a tree extrudes a wax straw to get honeydew out to ants. Many different species of ants benefit from the excretions of sap sucking bugs. Oxley Creek, QLD.