Tiny ants?

Lucifer

Lucifer

I have tiny ants crawling all over my plants. They don't seem to be doing any damage to the leaves nor the flowers. I do see them crawling into the actual flowers though. My question is this, are they pollinating these flowers or are they causing something negative.
 
Pollinating them. They'll also do their best to destroy anything that threatens their food source except aphids, so they'll keep leaf miners out for you.
 
i had ants seemed like they were helpnig some other pest get at my flowers / new growth. they are also helpers of mealy bugs i think
 
Thanks for the reply guys. I was all ready to wage war on them, until I noticed a higher pollination rate. Just wanted to make sure that it wasn't a coincidence. It does look like they do help in the pollination of the flowers.

OKGrowin, as for them helping other pests to get at my plants, I haven't noticed any mites or aphids or anything else that can harm the plants. So, I guess I'll leave these guys be until and if I notice any damage to my plants.
 
Ocho Cinco said:
According to a post I saw from Ed Currie as many as 11% of pods may have been pollinated by ants.
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I wonder how did he come to that number ? 11% seems as good as 22% or 50% or 90%...
 
Lucifer said:
OKGrowin, as for them helping other pests to get at my plants, I haven't noticed any mites or aphids or anything else that can harm the plants. So, I guess I'll leave these guys be until and if I notice any damage to my plants.
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Do keep an eye on it. They are notorious for it.
 
gasificada said:
 
Do keep an eye on it. They are notorious for it.
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I've done nothing but keeping an eye on them. I come out every hour or so just to see what's going on. Any little bug around my plants gets me paranoid.
 
lucilanga said:
 
I wonder how did he come to that number ? 11% seems as good as 22% or 50% or 90%...
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Haha, that's a good point.  Is he out there with millions of dollars worth of laser sensors and micro cameras carefully watching each bloom to see what pollinates it?  I wouldn't put it past some chileheads :rofl:

The OP brings up an interesting point though...will the tiny little ants make it through Tulle fabric?  I think they will...is there any way to stop this?  Smearing some vaseline (or preferably something a bit more organic) around the outside of the pot or something?
 
I think we've all been there.... :lol:
 
Didn't mean to feed your paranoia but it is a good idea to keep a close eye on the bug world. Eventually you learn who's good, who's bad, who's up to what, who's looking suspiciously, uh, suspicious......
 
If you're lucky you might end up with some of the guys like the assassin bug in my forum pic.  They are so freakin awesome...except they kill everything...including spiders and ladybugs. I doubt ants would stand a chance against them but they might have the numbers in their favor.
 
Do assassins kill ladybugs? I have only ever noticed them killing smaller flying bugs. I have never observed an assassin vs ant situation, but that is just one random guy's experience.
 
I really hate seeing any bugs on my plants. But if there has to be bugs, they may as well be the ones that aren't interested in my plant itself.
 
PepperWhisperer said:
Do assassins kill ladybugs? I have only ever noticed them killing smaller flying bugs. I have never observed an assassin vs ant situation, but that is just one random guy's experience.
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Yeah they're brutal, next time I catch one in action I should get a pic.  Found this doing an image search:
 
assassin-bug-with-prey-1.jpg

 
we also have the 2" ones that completely destroy hornworms
 
wow, I just figured out that the red and black ones are the two inch ones, just the nymph of them.  Sweetness
 
Lucifer said:
Do they kill aphids as well?
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Just from my observations this year, they are just as efficient at killing aphids as ladybug larvae are.  They jab that needle mouth into them, suck it dry and move on to the next one.  The species is Arilus cristatus or wheel bugs which is one of many types of assassin bugs.
 
from wikipedia:
"Wheel bugs are highly regarded by organic gardeners because they consume a variety of insects and their presence indicates a healthy, pesticide-free ecosystem. "They’re the lion or the eagle of your food web,” Dr. Michael J. Raupp, an entomologist at the University of Maryland, notes. “They sit on top. When you have these big, ferocious predators in your landscape, that tells me that this is a very healthy landscape, because all these other levels in your food web are intact.”"
gasificada said:
 
Nooo... there's lots of good bugs too!
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and spiders!
 
I guess I'll have to see if these ants have any adverse affects on my plants, directly or indirectly. So far, the only thing I see is a higher pollination rate (unless I'm just giving them more credit than they deserve).
 
If the ants do become a problem, blend popcorn a kernels or get cornmeal and keep it around the plant, they can eat it but can't digest it
If the ants do become a problem, blend popcorn a kernels or get cornmeal and keep it around the plant, they can eat it but can't digest it
 
shamair28 said:
If the ants do become a problem, blend popcorn a kernels or get cornmeal and keep it around the plant, they can eat it but can't digest it
If the ants do become a problem, blend popcorn a kernels or get cornmeal and keep it around the plant, they can eat it but can't digest it
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Oh yeah? That's great advice! Thanks, I'll give it a try. Cause no matter what, I definitely hate seeing them on my plants. Even if there may be some benefit to them. Better safe than sorry.
 
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