SITY: Points of View

In January of last year I showed you a picture of an ant farming aphids on a maple-leaved viburnum. That picture had been taken in the late summer or early fall of the previous year. During the spring of last year, I found more little insect farmers.

During the summer I found some smaller ants farming aphids on a jewelweed leaf.

I learned a few things from these discoveries. One thing is that the ants start farming early in the year, before the plants even bloom. Another is that we have at least two types of farming ants and at least two types of plants that make good aphid farms.

Finding these hidden farms was also a reminder that there’s a lot going on in this world that we don’t see because our points of view are so limited. I only spotted the farm on the viburnum because I happened to be looking at the plant from the side rather than above. I saw the aphids on the jewelweed because the leaf was twisted so that the underside faced upward. Otherwise, I’d never have realized that the farm was there. If we want to have a full understanding and appreciation of this world, we need to look at things from many different angles.