Spirea Aphid (Aphis spiraecola) on Flower Bud of Walmart Pomegranate

Aphids would normally be a reason not to buy a plant... but, in my case, I have to confess that they were one of the selling points for I was going to have a few hours of fun photographing this little bugs. I put the plant in the Walmart cart and paid for my infested dwarf pomegranate tree. Aphids are interesting little creatures who's excrement is called Honeydew; a precious elixir that incentives a collaborative effort without parallels by ants who care for and defend aphids close to their colony; and yes, in fact my tree came with ants as well. You can read a little more about aphid and ant collaboration from the Japanese Ant Database Group.