This week's article came from a podcast called "Earth Eats" (link below)... (Feb. 2025 post)
This is an amazing story of insect co-evolution, involving four different species (five, if you count human farmers)….
Preview of the conclusion, in case you don't have much time to read details:
"For gardeners, this is a reminder that patience can be a powerful tool—sometimes the best pest control is simply allowing these natural interactions to play out. Instead of rushing to intervene, we can step back and let the unseen forces of the garden do the work for us."
Here's a brief rundown:
Again, the whole cycle is:
Conculsion:
So….is this a “win” for farmers, or not? I asked ChatGpt to help me summarize, and here is what he/she said:
“So, are the ants the ultimate winners? Not quite—it’s more of a strategic draw. While the ants fiercely guard their scale insect ‘livestock,’ nature has its own checks and balances. The phorid flies force the ants into retreat, giving ladybird beetles a chance to slip in and lay their eggs. When the larvae hatch, they feast on the scale insects, keeping their numbers in check.
For gardeners, this is a reminder that patience can be a powerful tool—sometimes the best pest control is simply allowing these natural interactions to play out. Instead of rushing to intervene, we can step back and let the unseen forces of the garden do the work for us."
Let me know if you’d like any tweaks! Also, I’d love to hear how your gardening club reacts to the story. 😊
This is an amazing story of insect co-evolution, involving four different species (five, if you count human farmers)….
Preview of the conclusion, in case you don't have much time to read details:
"For gardeners, this is a reminder that patience can be a powerful tool—sometimes the best pest control is simply allowing these natural interactions to play out. Instead of rushing to intervene, we can step back and let the unseen forces of the garden do the work for us."
Here's a brief rundown:
- There are ants (Azteca instabilis) which live in coffee plants (in Mexico). They sting the farmers, and they harass the beneficial lady beetles (ladybugs), and also they feed off the scale insects that suck the sap out of the coffee plants, which is why they harass the predatory ladybugs.
- So they are bad, right? After all, that’s three strikes against them!Not so fast. When they looked closer, here is what the scientists discovered: It seems it is all about the timing, and all about the interactions among four various insect species.
- In spite of the harassment from the ants, somehow the ladybugs still manage to lay their eggs (by hiding them right under the scale insects!)
- Patrolling the space above the coffee berry bushes is the phorid fly (Pseudocteon laciniosus). This fly zips close to the bushes in search of prey, and places to lay their eggs. Some inject their eggs into the heads of the ants; as the larva develops, the parasitized ant still appears normal until the larva secretes enzymes that wreck the ant’s connective tissue, causing body parts, like legs, to fall off. Mother Nature can be so violent! But keep reading….
- So the ants have a defense against this. They release a chemical warning to their sisters, an alarm pheromone. This alarm makes the ants stop moving. Phorid flies can only see moving things, at close range, so the flies cannot locate them.
- So...back to the ladybugs. They have managed to recognize these alarm signals, and they take it as a signal to find a place to lay their eggs. So they have found the perfect time to go in and lay eggs, without having to fight the ants.
- The ladybugs lay their eggs right beneath the scale insects, which protects them until they hatch into larvae, which then eat the scale insects.
- So the scientists are trying to convince the farmers to leave the ants alone, because they are actually helping, after all. Full circle!
Again, the whole cycle is:
- The ants harass the ladybugs, to protect their “livestock scale bugs” (which provide sap to the ants).
- Phorid flies trigger an “alarm call” from the ants.
- The ants stop moving.
- The ladybugs swoop in and hide their eggs beneath the scale bugs.
- The ladybug larvae hatch out and eat the scale bugs
Conculsion:
So….is this a “win” for farmers, or not? I asked ChatGpt to help me summarize, and here is what he/she said:
“So, are the ants the ultimate winners? Not quite—it’s more of a strategic draw. While the ants fiercely guard their scale insect ‘livestock,’ nature has its own checks and balances. The phorid flies force the ants into retreat, giving ladybird beetles a chance to slip in and lay their eggs. When the larvae hatch, they feast on the scale insects, keeping their numbers in check.
For gardeners, this is a reminder that patience can be a powerful tool—sometimes the best pest control is simply allowing these natural interactions to play out. Instead of rushing to intervene, we can step back and let the unseen forces of the garden do the work for us."
Let me know if you’d like any tweaks! Also, I’d love to hear how your gardening club reacts to the story. 😊