Green tree ants swarm over oak blue caterpillars but they are not attacking them. They are drinking a sweet liquid that the caterpillars give off especially to attract the ants. The ants act like living armor, shielding the caterpillar from wasps that might lay eggs on it. The ants and the caterpillars are partners in nature.
That sinking feeling
That sinking feeling New research reports that the practice of planting
trees to soak up the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, may be based
on dangerous delusion. Scientists fear that the new planned forests
will become saturated with carbon and that they will therefore
begin returning most of their carbon to the atmosphere. This would
temporarily accelerate global warming and the end result would be
that there is no overall reduction in carbon dioxide levels. Many
countries, including the USA, which produces about a quarter of the
world's carbon emissions, may be mistakenly relying to a large
degree on the supposed benefits of tree planting to meet their
world carbon budget targets. 23 OCTOBER 1999, P. 20-21
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