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.
Rattle ant collects honeydew from the end of a straw-like wax extrusion produced by a bug hidden in the bark. Without the drinking straw the honeydew would simply soak into the bark. Oxley Creek, QLD.