corn wars ( no not the hugh iltus, mary eubanks one )

the maize out back has begun to produce ears for the squirrels....

and the eight or so foot tall zea mays mexicana has finally begun to put out its share of silks...

the northern tepehuan teocintli which takes its sweet time about everything it does has neither...

what it does share with the maize...

but which the zea mays mexican does not, which is odd in my estimation since they are all relatives, is a infestation of aphids with their ant attendants...feeding on the sugary juices of the zea family...shepherds have always had to deal with predators and the ants seem no exception...

enter the lady bug..."cute" to humans but a scourge for aphids and this one is browsing the buffet...

until she ( why are lady bugs always "she"? is it the "lady" business that does that? ) attracted the attention of the shepherds and things became somewhat heated...

seemingly defeated the beetle made a retreat around the back side of the stem ( out of sight out of ant mind apparently )...this was a ruse...a feint...a tactical withdrawal...

to the underside of the maize leaf where she scampered down to the end to flank the ants...too many easy pickings to pass up and the ants cannot be everywhere...the zea is thick with aphids.