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Ants are sneaky little devils

Mikey In The Ham

Mikey In The Ham

This may be old news but I thought I'd share anyway.
 
 
Ants themselves don't do much damage to your plants, however they protect and farm herds of aphids, cottony scales, mealybugs, soft-type scales, and whiteflies. Ants save the eggs of these insects in their nests over the winter and bring them out in the spring. These insects produce honeydew while feeding on your plants which the ants just love. If you closely observe ants streaming up a tree and tending their aphids, you will see them take their legs and rub the aphids which stimulates them to produce the honeydew. This activity is known as "milking" the aphids. The honeydew that is secreted by the insects favors the growth of sooty mold. This is a very destructive black fungus that spreads on plant leaves. The aphids are also responsible for spreading many different viral diseases.
 
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http://www.ghorganics.com/page11.html
 
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I beg to differ that they haven't bothered my peppers but one summer started chewing on my okra pods where the residue of the sweet pollen remained, damaging them.  It was a drier than usual summer so they might have ran out of alternate food sources.
 
From that point onward I expanded the perimeter where I put down ant poison granules, which I had always done to keep them from invading the house every spring, but I don't put the granules near food crops just in case...
 
     The little bastiges have gone after my okra the last two years, too. I always knew they farmed aphids, but I didn't know they chewed on pods too. I also had no idea they farm whiteflies and other pests. (Thanks, OP!)
     I use the el cheap-o little ant traps - the ones with the bait they bring back to the nests. This spring I tossed one in each of my raised beds when I saw they were starting to get active. I like the idea because the traps contain and protect the poison, so it doesn't just soak into the soil that my plants are growing in. And they work. One trap usually has me set for a season.
 
I've always noticed the ants crawling on my peppers,  but had no idea what they were doing until I found aphids.   I'll try some
ant traps,  sound like a good idea.
 
You don't have to tell me about !&%@#*&%#$@(@#$^%~ APHIDS
 
Working on GMA (genetically modified aphids) with the terminator geneTM.
 
I found aphids this season because I saw the crazy ant activity on it. Got the aphids dead, ants gone.
 
Thanks for sharing the tip, I had to look it up. Now folks can watch out!
 
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