Ants

[Tim Harberd]

Hi There,
   Has anyone else had trouble with ants? At the end of last season, to save me time weeding bare earth, I covered the ‘snowdrop’  ground with some black plastic woven fabric. On lifting it in November I discovered a large ant colony had set up home under the ground cover.
   The snowdrop cultivar nearest to the ant activity was “Bill Clark”, which has been reduced to one nose!
   Has anyone else noted ants chewing snowdrop bulbs? What do ants eat anyway?? I guess it is possible that my ants are just guilty by association! Which is perhaps even more worrying!!

Tim DH

[Cfred72]

Hello  . It is very difficult to give an opinion on the ants. There are so many species around the world. There are so many variables and eating habits in relation to each species ... Do you know the species of ants that occupy the place?

[Alan_b]

I get lots of ants' nests under the paving slabs in my 'patio'.  I presume they appreciate a bit of cover. 

[Cfred72]

Apart from the fact that they can better regulate the moisture under a protection. On top of that, a stone, a slab, a tarpaulin, ... accumulates more heat in the sun. Sometimes this heat is restored at night. This is often where you will see larvae. More heat, faster development. Sometimes, what is vegetable is removed by the ants. Less heat on the nest when there is shade of leaves.

[Brian Ellis]

Our garden is riddled with ants as it is very dry and open.  I have had problems with one or two snowdrops but hadn't attributed it to them although one in particular seems to be where they like to nest.  The woodpeckers are good at eating them so I don't like to treat them with anything ghastly in case it goes up the food chain.  I seem to remember that cheap lemonade is a good thing to dowse them with.

[Brian Ellis]

I thought so:

http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=10534.msg277717#msg277717

[Tim Harberd]

Hi Cfred,
   I guess they are black garden ants (Lasius niger). We don't get many ants round here, our cold clay soil doesn't suit them! In fact, as a kid, I only encountered ants when on holiday in other places. I first saw ants locally maybe 5 years ago.

Hi Brian,
   Thanks for the link to lemonade treatment! It doesn't surprise me that artificial sweeteners are toxic, since they work, as a sugar substitute, by tricking ones nerves!! I'll add lemonade to my arsenal should any ants be foolish enough to show up in the vicinity again.

   I'm afraid ants are going to be 'guilty until proved innocent'' round here.... At least until “Bill Clark” recovers!!!

Tim DH

[Leucogenes]

Our garden is riddled with ants as it is very dry and open.  I have had problems with one or two snowdrops but hadn't attributed it to them although one in particular seems to be where they like to nest.  The woodpeckers are good at eating them so I don't like to treat them with anything ghastly in case it goes up the food chain.  I seem to remember that cheap lemonade is a good thing to dowse them with.


I also have some ants - nests in the garden. I gave up the fight. You are, as is well known, the secret world power. The mass of all ants is greater than that of humanity. So I try to be in tolerance.
Make my knowledge the ants responsible for the natural spread of snowdrops in the garden. I say here times thank you.

[Cfred72]

Hello Tim. Maybe you live in a European country?
The ant Lasius Niger is very common among us (Belgium), nicknamed the black ant. Lasius niger consumes sweet products and insects. Due to this fact, it is a useful asset for the gardener in natural pest control. It is true that when they are established in the roots of a plant there is often a problem. The plant often dies. Sometimes just moving the plant a few centimeters with the least amount of soil and ants is enough to save the plant. On the other hand, I think it is a false information to say that aspartame attracts ants. They are insensitive to it. They do not have the same olfactory and gustatory sensations as we do. Sugars refined like sacharose or natural (honeydew aphids, honey, fruits ripe, ...) attract them. They forget the false sugars of diets. Except when mixed with a material containing real sugar.
I have raised them for years, as well as Lasius flavus, Myrmica rubra, Messor barbarus, Pheidole pallidula.

[Alan_b]

I thought black ants treated aphids such as greenfly like milk-cows and will therefore defend these aphids against predators.  That's not what you want in your garden, surely?

[Cfred72]

Indeed, they breed to harvest honeydew and defend their flock of aphids. If they have a greater source of sugary material elsewhere, they will eat their herd. Apart from the aphids, there are so many other insects that are called pests that are devoured that I often let nature do.

[Tim Harberd]

Hi Cfred,
   Thanks for sharing your expertise on Formicidae.. Co-incidently on another thread you've been asking about ''Bill Clark''.

   As noted earlier, (somewhat disconcertingly late) ''Bill Clark'' only put up one nose here. It's currently not far off flowering.

   Now, a couple of weeks behind the already late solitary nose, a number of other growing points have appeared. (I can't yet tell how many of them will flower.)

   SO: Apologies to the ants I've squashed in the intervening days!!

   To console myself about the apparent ''loss'', I had already splashed out on a few replacements!!! (Fortunately I had not gone as far as attempting to dig out the ants.)

Tim DH