Ants on sapodilla tree

[Ant21]

I have a sapodilla tree and it's full of ants is that good or bad?...I have plenty of
fruit trees and the sapodilla tree is the only one with ants. The tree is doing fine and starting
to flower.Any input from experience sapodilla growers here...Thanks

[Hollywood]

Those ants are probably farming harmful, sap-sucking insects like scale or mealybugs. You can stop the ants from protecting their crop by applying Tanglefoot. It works great. Organic Ant Control For Fruit Trees

[stressbaby]

I agree, the ants are farming.  Tanglefoot works great but you have to make darn sure the tree is not touching anywhere or anything else, because if it is, the ants will find the alternate route every time.

[Soren]

That sounds very likely. The farming ants have a symbiotic relationship with the aphids and gets food for protection - remove the ants, and parasitoids and a number of other beneficial insects and spiders / mites will soon remove the aphids which will improve the health of the tree!

You can encounter other species of ants than the ones farming aphids - but these species are generally bigger of size and often do not appear in vast numbers with continuous columns moving up and down on the tree trunk.

[fruitlovers]

I've seen ants on sapodillas when there were no harmful insects like aphids. I think they like split fruits and suck on their sweet juices. Here also the ants like to nest on sapodilla trees. They get under the lichens, moss, and bark of the trees. They're not always doing damage, and as Adam pointed out previously, they can often do some good. Anyway it's good to be observant either way and not too rapidly jump to conclusions.

[Soren]

I've seen ants on sapodillas when there were no harmful insects like aphids. I think they like split fruits and suck on their sweet juices. Here also the ants like to nest on sapodilla trees. They get under the lichens, moss, and bark of the trees. They're not always doing damage, and as Adam pointed out previously, they can often do some good. Anyway it's good to be observant either way and not too rapidly jump to conclusions.

There are even ant species which have symbiotic relationships - not with the aphids - but the host tree and will protect it against herbivores. Some will harvest nectar from flowers and can to some extent even help in pollination, so I would try and trace where the ants "go"...