Honeydew (secretion)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An aphid produces honeydew for an ant in a shared symbiotic relationship

Notice the five 'bubbles' of honeydew on five of these aphids.

Honeydew is a sugar-rich sticky substance, secreted by aphids and some scale insects as they feed on plant sap. When their mouthpart penetrates the phloem, the sugary, high-pressure liquid is forced out of the gut's terminal opening.

Honeydew is collected by certain species of birds, wasps and honey bees, which process it into a dark, strong honey (honeydew honey). This is highly prized in parts of Europe and Asia for its reputed medicinal value.

Ants may even collect, or 'milk', honeydew directly from aphids, which benefit from their presence due to their ability to drive away predators such as lady beetles.

Honeydew can cause sooty mold on many ornamental plants, a bane of gardeners.

Honeydew is posited as one possibility for what the substance that the Bible calls manna may have been.