IN THE CITRUS UNIVERSE - part three

... the Tangerine tree was still blooming just outside my sleeping room window ...

... and the ants were enjoying the flowers.
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... along with a handful of Mediterranean spotted chafer (Oxythyrea funesta).

As I found out while preparing today's episode ... these are the very common Lasius niger ants ...

... and their colony is situated in the ground under the tree ... so while some workers were working on flowers ... some other ants were cleaning the surroundings of the main entrance to the underground den ... and working on plant parts fallen from the branches.
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When my camera went upstairs again ...

... I had the opportunity to observe a fascinating relationship between these ants and the Citriola scale insects (Coccus pseudomagnoliarum).

These strange limpet - like insects that lose the ability to move in their adult life, are able to release the nutrient honey dew when stimulated by the ant's antennae ... as you can see on this photograph.
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The ants protect the scales and get some delicious food.

The Scales are not the only species on this tree that has this arrangement with the ants. The elegant wings on this photograph belong to some aphids.

There are quite a few aphid colonies here ... usually located in spiral nests in the folded leaves ...

... as aphids suck the nutrients ... the damaged leaf curls creating a nice green shelter.
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This leaf is on its way to become a spiral.
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This shot was taken on the same leaf. You can see the ant controlling the herd.

Here the ant is stimulating the aphid to release some edibles ... and on the following photograph ...
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... you can witness the moment in which the delicious droplet of honey dew was released ...

... while the Marbled Bush cricket nymph was resting nearby ... young Bush cricket of many species assume this pose when resting.

On this photograph you can see another scale insect species present on the tree ... the Cottony cushion scale (Icerya purchasi)
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If you enlarge and thoroughly inspect this photograph ... you may notice that this species has retained its legs ... and is still able to move as an adult ... unlike its neighbor, the Citriola scale insect that I already intoduced.

Here is another shot with these two lovely scales ... and the ant in the middle.

Here is another Bush cricket nymph. This one is very young and small ... and if this insect will survive and grow, it will become another Bush cricket ... but not the Marbled one, I don't know what species is this.
The community of insects you just saw was present every day of my Tangerine explorations ... but I photographed also other species ...

... that were only passing by ... like this pretty large and robust solitary bee ...

... or this very common Lucilia sericata fly.
The tree is growing in the nice, shady and humid angle of my garden ...

... so is very attractive to mosquitoes too. This is a very cool looking species,Aedes albopictus, native to the tropical and subtropical areas of Southeast Asia.

On one occasion I saw this very small ... and colorful fly ... I don't know what species is this.
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Small moths were also appearing from time to time. This species more regularly ...

... and this one ... I noticed only once.

Many flowers were falling ...

... some others were rotting, becoming brown ... while new fruits were starting to be visible ...

... this Marbled Bush cricket was slowly crawling around, ready to jump if endangered ... TO BE CONTINUED ... as always in these series on HIVE, all the photographs are my work.