Not quite a lady-killer

During the day, the most numerous visitors to the flowers in our garden in Florida were not bees, butterflies, moths, flies, or, indeed, anything flying.  Instead, the flowers were occupied by foraging ants.  While I watched, these ants were never interrupted by any competitor for the flowers' nectar or pollen.  An incident I observed one evening suggested why the ants were left to benefit alone, by demonstrating how aggressively the ants could defend their chosen flowers from trespassers.  As I walked through the garden, my flashlight revealed a cactus lady beetle (Chilocorus cacti) on a Pentas sp. flower.  At that same moment, the lady beetle was being inspected by an ant.

An ant inspects a cactus lady beetle (Chilocorus cacti) on a Pentas sp. flower.

The ant approached more closely, and very soon after they came into contact, the ant closed its mandibles around the lady beetle's exposed wing.

The ant holding onto the lady beetle's wing.

Though the lady beetle dragged the ant across several flowers, for some time it was not able to escape.  If there had been more ants in the vicinity, the lady beetle might have been in some danger of being overwhelmed. 

The lady beetle tries to crawl away, but is held back by the ant.

As it was, the lady beetle eventually pulled loose, and without any apparent damage to its wing.  Once free, the lady beetle made its quick departure from the flowers.