Using Ants for pest control . . .

[foomar]

Last few years have been growing the bulk of plants outside due , in part , to soaring electricity prices.
Good exercise moveing pots in and out of sheds as well.

Thought i would have more insect problems than indoors , but quite the opposite , and it is down to the common ants which live under the slabs.

Tiny black ants around 3 mm , larger species are farming aphids eleswhere in the garden and the red ones are too agressive to mess with.

Nearing the end of season in Cornwall and hard to find any damage on the plants , have watched them thoroughly explore and strip every foreign body from catterpillars down to aphids and their eggs and those bloody awful tiny white flies that ruin peppers.

Not seeing any damage caused by the ants on canna and they dont seem to get stuck on trichomes.

Two years ago had a nasty dose of spidermites indoors in full flower and sucesfully controlled them by moving the pots onto the slabs a few times , not useing chems in late flower and anything sprayed invites budrot.

Spent a good few quid on assorted predators over the years that have never worked properly , these ants do it for free for most of the year.

Anyone else or have i been lucky in species and environment ?

 

[Ringodoggie]

I have had small black ants clear my plants from aphids a few months ago. The plants got aphids indoors and I put them outside just to get rid of them. Lo and behold, the little black ants cleaned them up.

 

[exploziv]

Never heard of ants eating aphids, but I did hear and see them farming them for honeydew. Maybe you been lucky and they just wanted the aphids on a better host plant, so they moved them? Googling "ants eating aphids" doesn't return any info on this either.

 

[goingrey]

Googling "ants eating aphids" doesn't return any info on this either.

Do Ants Eat Aphids? - SciFAQs

Do ants eat aphids? Yes they do. While they typically help each other, certain factors such as food scarcity push ants to eat ahpids instead.

scifaqs.com

 

[Ringodoggie]

Never heard of ants eating aphids, but I did hear and see them farming them for honeydew. Maybe you been lucky and they just wanted the aphids on a better host plant, so they moved them? Googling "ants eating aphids" doesn't return any info on this either.

Could be that they just abandoned the plant after the ants arrived. To be honest, I don't know what happened to them except them were gone. Sorry for misleading.

 

[foomar]

Thinking about the layout of the garden they could be permanently suffering from lack of food.

Three rows of slabs then a manicured lawn , just seasonal planters so not much greenery.

Must look like a free food delivery to them hence the enthusiasm , all life and edible bits cut up and carried off back underground in an hour on a substantial plant.

Fascinating to watch them esp with a mag glass , viscious little bastards.

 

[acespicoli]

In the vegetable garden your right, I have made notice of this as well.
The only caution is slabs concrete boards flat rocks rock pile, habitat for slugs,
Wasps and ants are ideal beneficials in the garden the later more indoor friendly id imagine
Great insight thanks for sharing.

>>>Best>ibes

 

[foomar]

Have been tidying up the garden and have found little evidence of insect damage on anything this year.
Not a single wasp or ladybug seen , few small clumps of greenfly and a few catterpillar larvae but nothing obvious or damageing on anything food or floral.
This is two acres going from formal to jungle and never seen such an insect desert as this year.

Not good for songbirds , few fledgelings this year , they go around the planters eating the bigger bugs and i put out plenty of food for them , the hedgehog keeps the slugs down.

 

[troutman]

Bad idea I think.

Ants use aphids as workers.

 

[foomar]

That video makes your skin crawl.
The other side of the garden has a few clumps of aphids just like this , disgusting mess deadheading dahlias when you grab one , larger and more aggressive ants
These tiny ants seem to be a species that forages rather than farms.

The one pot i tried mollasses on was invaded and it looked like they were nesting.

 

[troutman]

Sugar attracts ants.

 

[Creeperpark]

Last few years have been growing the bulk of plants outside due , in part , to soaring electricity prices.
Good exercise moveing pots in and out of sheds as well.

Thought i would have more insect problems than indoors , but quite the opposite , and it is down to the common ants which live under the slabs.

Tiny black ants around 3 mm , larger species are farming aphids eleswhere in the garden and the red ones are too agressive to mess with.

Nearing the end of season in Cornwall and hard to find any damage on the plants , have watched them thoroughly explore and strip every foreign body from catterpillars down to aphids and their eggs and those bloody awful tiny white flies that ruin peppers.

Not seeing any damage caused by the ants on canna and they dont seem to get stuck on trichomes.

Two years ago had a nasty dose of spidermites indoors in full flower and sucesfully controlled them by moving the pots onto the slabs a few times , not useing chems in late flower and anything sprayed invites budrot.

Spent a good few quid on assorted predators over the years that have never worked properly , these ants do it for free for most of the year.

Anyone else or have i been lucky in species and environment ?

Thanks for the post friend. Very interesting.

 

[Nannymouse]

From what little i understand, ants may let the aphids on a plant, but if a plant is really yummy for the ants, they'll kill the aphids. I think that if the food supply dwindles, the ants will eat the aphids, too. Maybe depends on the ant, the plant, and how much food is available.

 

[foomar]

There was a good overlap from the tent to some rare direct sunlight this morning , dragged a few out in mid flower to get some real light for a few hours.
Put them on the slabs and came back to retent them a few hours later.

Something did not look right , the ants had cut and carried off almost every white pistil on the plants , which i intended to pollinate tomorrow.

 

[doublezero]

Good day

@foomar
Are you aware of the ants helping your plants in 09/2023 were of the same species that harmed your plants in 04/2024?

 

[exploziv]

Just ants doing ant stuff..

 

[foomar]

They look to be the same common small species over the years , one thats found in dry stone walls locally.
When they swarm the numbers are low , probably in response to the limited food available in a niche situation.