Ants, to kill or not to Kill

[bangkok]

I have a nest of Weaver ants in my mangotree. That tree also has it first bloom so this is my lucky day i guess. They live on a graft of Mahachanok which will flush soon.

How can i get the ants on my other tree's as well? Can i just move some of them to the other tree and hope they make a nest there?

[Soren]

I have a nest of Weaver ants in my mangotree. That tree also has it first bloom so this is my lucky day i guess. They live on a graft of Mahachanok which will flush soon.

How can i get the ants on my other tree's as well? Can i just move some of them to the other tree and hope they make a nest there?

No; you can't transfer some of them to form a new colony - it will require a fertilized queen ant to do so.

[bangkok]

http://www.world-of-ants.com/en/ants/asia/oecophylla-smaragdina.html

For 140 euro i can order a colony with 11-20 workers.

I can buy a lot of mango's for that money, more then that whole tree will give this year. I can put my new weaver-ants nest in a jar and you get all for 100 euro, todays special 

I read that you can attract them with sugarwater. I put some drops of Sprite on the young leaves so i hope the ants will take a look there soon. They still are busy building their new home and don't go hunting yet.

[FlyingFoxFruits]

what's that stuff (orthene?) that looks like white sprinkles, and smells like hog scat and sauerkraut?

I used some to kill a mound of fire ants on a cashew, and it worked nicely...not harming the tree.

I wonder why I should be scared to use it?   it smells so bad the ants just walk away!

[fruitlovers]

Hi Adam, it's a good thread you started. I think the main problem is we all tend to look at ants as our enemy, but probably most of them are beneficial. There are so many thousands of different species of ants that by laws of probability this makes sense. Your hunch that they improve soil is true, and i think i posted a link confirming that earlier in the thread. I think the best tactic is to know what species of ants you have present in your area, what kinds of plants they tend to do damage to, and only go after them, and leave the others alone.
Personally i've only had problem with ants on citrus tree's new growth. I spray them with soap and it kills both the aphids and the ants. For longer term protection tanglefoot works well. A much bigger problem has been recent invasion of the tiny fire ants. They like to go indoors and sting you in the middle of the night. (Not a nice way to wake up.) So for them i definitely resort to fire ant poison.
Soren, i wonder if you could make your own tanglefoot from some other plant that has sticky resin?

[Mike T]

There are 100's of ant species around most towns and it is good to know a dozen or so of the ones in your yard as there are good and bad.With weaver ants you break even as they farm sap sucking insects and a few caterpillars on your trees as well as protect them from some pests.I had masses of queen green weaver ants land all through my yard last week.I killed a few 100 to keep them in check.They form colony complexes with many nests and a main queen with subsidary queens.If you leave them the nest will spread.The stinging ants,main aphid farming types,flower pot types (especially root aphid farmers) and several others get controlled in my yard.Thank goodness I don't get bullants but I get shiny rainforest stingers that send you through the ceiling.

[bangkok]

I had ants on my tree's from about 2.5 cm long (1 inch) and they look very scary.

I had a big pot of caked garlicpowder and decided to throw it in my raised beds. I smashed the piece into powder with a brick and threw it over the soil. One hour later all the ants are gone.

Now i hope my fruits will not get a garlic taste 

[Mark in Texas]

In the past i got them away with feeding them dry yeast mixed with fruit-jam. They like to eat it and it kills them.

Right....

  Gotta ask, what blows off first that's the killer..... their head or their ass?   

[Mark in Texas]

For 140 euro i can order a colony with 11-20 workers.

Do they do windows?

[LEOOEL]

Very nice thread Adam, don't kill them, they're beneficial, for the most part.

When I planted my J-31 jackfruit, the ants completly covered the grafted tree and also with some type of ant eggs. Needless to say it was kind of freaky, but I decided to just water and fertilize the tree. Right now the tree is growing great and the freaky ant situation is no more.

[From the sea]

I leave most predatory bugs alone because they eat other bad bugs the ants and wasps make it that i don't have much of a caterpillar problem, but the fire ants and any thing that messes with the trees or plants dies. a big pot of boiling water kills ant nests in the grass.

[Mark in Texas]

Here in Texas and that includes my farm, fire ants are creatures from hell, an epidemic!  They are voracious, building large mounds, will kill small wildlife and if you've ever allowed some to get on your skin they will attack until there is no tomorrow causing a firey pain that ends up in puss pockets the next day.  Most effective treatment is Extinguish II.  It's a bait and kills the soldiers, queens, and princesses.  I kick the mound with my shoe which riles them up, sprinkle the mound with 1-3 tsps., they get pissed and remove the bran taking it down into the colony as they clear and rebuild the mound.

I leave all other ant species alone and that includes harvester ants that create 3' diameter bald areas near their entrance.

[bangkok]

To keep ants out of trees while the fruit is ripening, rub a ring of Vaseline, about 10 cm wide, around the trunk of the tree. It won't damage the tree, but ants won't walk over it to spoil your fruit.

source:rfca

[GROWITFROMSEED]

From what I have seen Ants = Bad. Kill em.

[bangkok]

From what I have seen Ants = Bad. Kill em.

http://law-of-ming.blogspot.com/2011/03/hooked-by-soursop.html

Duhh, i just put vaseline around the branches of my soursop because i saw ants living in the flowers and thought they would ruin them. Then i read this site and it sais the ants will pollinate the flowers....

Luckily the ants still walk over the vaseline but they hesitate a lot to do it. I m going to clean the branches now.

[fruitlovers]

I think it is the ants here that pollinate the nocturnal durian flowers, as we have almost no bats to do the trick. (Native Hawaiian bat is on endangered species list.)

[bangkok]

Since i have the duriantree planted the ants are on it non-stop. I don't know what they do there but they love it.

I put some sugar in the flowers of my soursop and thew in some male pollen from another flower. I hope the ants will do the rest for me, there are loads of them in the flour now.

If you can't beat them...use them.

[mwambao]

They are not bad after all.
See how Tanzania farmers are Using weaver ants to eliminate fruit flies.

http://farmbizafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=312:weaver-ants-clear-crops-of-pests-in-minutes&catid=19:pest-control&Itemid=142

[ScottR]

I don't go after Argentine ants here until they start farming insects on my plants, just the other day ants had covered a 2' tall Jabo-paulista plants new flush growth with tons of black aphids. There gone now ;)ant poison and strong mist spray to get them off tender new flush But on the other hand my Cherimoya's this year are setting fruit without me hand pollenating them and I don't know if it's because of higher monsoonal humidity lately or ants.  

[bangkok]

I only allow weaverants in my tree's, the normal small ants like to climb up and down the stems but i rubbed vaseline on the stem and they don't like that. Works for some days and doesn't harm the tree.

Also i want to learn how to attract weaver ants and let them have big nests. I only had small nests made of 3 leaves but they can get huge like a soccerball.

[FlyingFoxFruits]

my new location has plenty of fire ants.

I killed off a bunch of the mounds, but now I'm taking a break...(I hate pesticides)

I need to observe their interaction with my trees.

So far they seem to be beneficial in some respects....they keep the base of the tree free from weeds....and they definitely improve soil aeration.

most of the time they have been staying off of the trees...but I have seen them after a heavy rain, gathering on the trunk....and I do see them all over the white sapote flowers...(which must help with pollination I can only assume)

I can see how they'd be a problem by eating fruits prematurely, and/or encouraging aphids, or scale (sucking insects) to flock to my plant.

but I have a sneaking suspicion that these colonies of ants can be a beneficial bug for your fruit trees...especially the fruit trees from Brazil (south america).....after all, isn't that where the ants come from?  don't you want your plants to feel like they're at home?? 

[FlyingFoxFruits]

just found this interesting link

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galveston/beneficials/beneficial-56%28partial%29_red_imported_fire_ant.htm

[Coconut]

my new location has plenty of fire ants.

I killed off a bunch of the mounds, but now I'm taking a break...(I hate pesticides)

I need to observe their interaction with my trees.

So far they seem to be beneficial in some respects....they keep the base of the tree free from weeds....and they definitely improve soil aeration.

most of the time they have been staying off of the trees...but I have seen them after a heavy rain, gathering on the trunk....and I do see them all over the white sapote flowers...(which must help with pollination I can only assume)

I can see how they'd be a problem by eating fruits prematurely, and/or encouraging aphids, or scale (sucking insects) to flock to my plant.

but I have a sneaking suspicion that these colonies of ants can be a beneficial bug for your fruit trees...especially the fruit trees from Brazil (south america).....after all, isn't that where the ants come from?  don't you want your plants to feel like they're at home?? 

Ok so I sat squat by accident on a fire ants hill next to my araca boi bushes.  Three days later my ass was burning with milky blisters (my apologies to youngsters reading this) & I was debating whether I should go to the Boca ER for some sutures after poping them while looking at my bathroom mirror in horror,; you getting the picture Adam?  Luckily using Redneck Medecine save me from a trip to Boca West ER; I went to my deep chest freezer & toast out Wild Boars & AlligAtors from the last hunt, stuff my ass on a bed of frozen quails, nutrias & squirrels while having some legal moonshine.  The pains and scabs disappear after four days but the misery memories  persist to this day.  Miraculously my dam Aracai boi finally produce boat load of fruits since I have gotten rid off the Brazilian ants hills from my Backyard.  So I blame them for doing some funky things to my Aracoi Boi which did nothing for five years but flower without fruit!  My right to bare all in my backyard  by the Constitution were Violated!  😡 Kill them all they are no assistance to senior citizens.  😤

[FlyingFoxFruits]

coconut,

haha that sux!

i have been killing them for a while now...in the greenhouse I have no choice, I must kill them whenever they show up.

but out in the yard there are too many to control...I've been saving some time, money, and exposure to pesticides by letting them live.

[Coconut]

coconut,

haha that sux!

i have been killing them for a while now...in the greenhouse I have no choice, I must kill them whenever they show up.

but out in the yard there are too many to control...I've been saving some time, money, and exposure to pesticides by letting them live.

Yeah lately I have discovered Red Neck Fire Ants Management.  I just boil hot water, dig the hill two feet down & pour boiling water & covered it.  The Queen get cook & the dead ants attract gecko.  I also used a jiffy clothing steamer to steam kill fire ants nest in my swimming pool paver.  The steam also kill weeds in crack up to four months in winter and three months in summe rains.


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