Author Mark Hanlon ◦
I was pulling out a few weeds on the farm just inland of Lancelin a few weeks ago and some tiny green nodules on the roots of one of them made me look closer. Taking a picture and magnifying it showed they were small insects only about a mm long. After consulting with the WA Museum it was confirmed they are aphids that live underground. I attach a few pictures of the weed and the aphids. They were also being tended by a mid sized black ant which may be Lasius niger, an introduced species from what I can research.
Also here is a link to an article about underground aphids (root aphids) in Britain. Some of these look pretty much identical to the ones I found, indeed the ant species with them may also be the same (Lasius niger – black garden ant).
https://influentialpoints.com/aphid/Root_aphids_Aphis_Dysaphis_early_summer_2014.htm
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