ants in flowers. Cool!

dub_sauces

dub_sauces

3WrYXoWl.jpg

 
Thought this was pretty neat and would share it with you guys. I have a large number of ants pollenating my 2 hot banana peppers. They are traveling from flower to flower which is odd to me because I did not realize ants were pollinators...
 
The plants are healthy, no signs of pests, just a large number of ants. and I'm ok with that, I figure ants are pretty badass when it comes to territory so if they help me fight off other things that may want to munch on it then that's fine by me.  anyway, I had previously asked a question about ants on my plants but that was in a different garden and they were just exploring the plant, not the flowers, plus they were a different type of ant. these guys are clearly just traveling from flower to flower, they are ignoring the leaves and such.
 
Ants really like sugar, so I would guess that they are just after the nectar in the flowers, and maybe not doing much as far as actually pollinating the flowers. As in the picture, it looks like they are going straight to where the nectar would be without really disturbing the pollen above them.
 
dragonsfire said:
Bee careful, Ants protect aphids, they feed on their honeydew the Aphids produce.
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true, but ants generally do more good than harm and insect problems such as aphids are generally easy to solve. here is something most people don't see or know about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBfbdJjJn9A
 
I recorded that last season. they killed the larvae that would of otherwise turned into a harmful beetle.


 
 
Yeah i know about ants and aphids, i check my plants daily for them. That picture may not show it but they were definitely walking around the whole flower, pollen and all and then going on to the next flower.
 
Thats not to say that they arent after the sugars, but if they carry pollen from flower to flower then they are technically a pollinator...
 
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