St. John's Wort

Yet in Montmartre cemetery, a beautiful bush of St. John's Wort (Hypericum patulum)...

Click below on the thumbnails to display a bigger picture.
Click again on the picture to come back here.


	This spot had beeen invaded by ants and black aphids (Aphis fabae ?). The ants were very active around aphids and didn't left them any time to rest.

Since those aphids are very small, they can go and feed under the cover of the sepals (which protect the flower before eclosion). The ants had a hard work following their cattle...
		One day appeared a lady beetle veteran, whose name may have been "Scarface".
	It didn't remain alone very long...

		Since the conditions were good, the lady beetles were eager to get a descendance. On next picture, you can even see the photographer's picture on the elytron.
	Larvae came. Next, larvae of Adalia bipunctata, the two-spotted lady beetle.
	With the eclosion of the flowers, the aphids could go and pasture on wider territories...

Such a situation can't remain unnoticed. Visitors arrived. Some of them only interested in the pollen, like this bee of the Megachile genus.
		Syrphids came also. Like this Syritta pipiens.
Or Syrphus ribesii, whose larvae are an important predator of aphids.
		Lady beetles and their larvae were still at work. Those larvae are really quick and fast.

Some visitors left visible indications: here, those aphids were parasitized by a wasp and their skin turned crusty and golden brown, a form called a "golden mummy".
	One could also observe bees and flies.

And even a small spider.		In some languages, the name of the St. John's Wort is based on the many tiny holes in the leaves.