Subject: Carpenter Ant Herding Black Locust Treehopper Nymphs, Camponotus sp. The treehoppers are species Vanduzea arquata.

Location: Upshur County, West Virginia

Stock Number: 06-25419

Comment: These ants and treehoppers have a mutualistic relationship. Ants provide protection to the treehoppers, while the treehoppers provide ants with “honeydew,” a sweet by-product of the digestion of plant juices.

Ants that tend the Black Locust Treehoppers are typically members of the genus Formica, but are occasionally members of the genus Camponotus or Crematogaster.

Despite the ants’ protective services, the treehoppers are occasionally eaten by spiders, stink bugs, and by ladybird larvae.

In the 1990s researchers discovered that Black Locust Treehoppers communicate with each other using percussive signals conducted through the locust stems. In particular, males signal to find mates; they signal to the female during mating itself; they also produce signals to warn away other males.