Are ants enemies?

[sheknitsandcrochets]

I notice a lot of ants running around in the garden and crawling around in plant blossoms. Should I be concerned? Are ants a threat, or can they coexist in the garden?

Thanks,

 

[Wolfie2]

Ants are Gods creatures and serve a purpose in the cycle of life. It has been proven they can help with pollination and have the ability to move the earth around helping with that cycle. They eat/kill other bugs that can damage your crops and probably help in other life cycle processes.
With that said, I kill any and all that I see! Being in a temperate zone (9A), ants thrive here. Several species have infiltrated/ migrated into the south and will probably be headed your way as they evolve.
My nemesis is the Fire Ant. Which, I've read was imported from South America back 60 or so years ago in a shipment of bananas (so "they" say). Can't put nothin on the ground without them building a nest underneath it. And they are vicious little farkers. Defending their nests with a vengance! Their stings will turn into a pustule which may reach 1/4 " across and if you don't take care of it quickly it will get infected.
During heavy rain event they will elevate their nest. Into a lot of places we do not want them. I have had them come into my house, through the pipe and electrical entrances. And build nests inside the walls. They have gotten into the contact box for the water well, disablin it until I could clean it out.`
When I first came here to SE Tx, almost 50 yrs ago, they were here but not in great numbers and did not range much further north. Now they are found as far north as the Dallas area, couple hundred miles north of us. Comin soon to a neighberhood near you!
And there are the plastic eating ants, I forget their name but they will infiltrate a vehicle, or house and they love to eat plastics, Especially the soy based plastics the environmentalists fawn over now and a lot of electrical insulation is made from!
The non- native ants have displaced the God given native ants that were not nearly as destructive and served a real purpose in OUR environment. I have posted several times about the fire ants in my compost bins and I'm sure some are gettin tired of listening to it. But in My environment they are a real threat.
If nothing else, think about seeing your child or grandchild come screaming to you with hundreds of ant bites like I have described above on his/her legs.
Sorry for the rant but I hate ants!

 

[sheknitsandcrochets]

@Wolfie2 Thank you for the information. I believe that answers all of my questions.

 

[Coops Dad]

Ants are Gods creatures and serve a purpose in the cycle of life. It has been proven they can help with pollination and have the ability to move the earth around helping with that cycle. They eat/kill other bugs that can damage your crops and probably help in other life cycle processes.
With that said, I kill any and all that I see! Being in a temperate zone (9A), ants thrive here. Several species have infiltrated/ migrated into the south and will probably be headed your way as they evolve.
My nemesis is the Fire Ant. Which, I've read was imported from South America back 60 or so years ago in a shipment of bananas (so "they" say). Can't put nothin on the ground without them building a nest underneath it. And they are vicious little farkers. Defending their nests with a vengance! Their stings will turn into a pustule which may reach 1/4 " across and if you don't take care of it quickly it will get infected.
During heavy rain event they will elevate their nest. Into a lot of places we do not want them. I have had them come into my house, through the pipe and electrical entrances. And build nests inside the walls. They have gotten into the contact box for the water well, disablin it until I could clean it out.`
When I first came here to SE Tx, almost 50 yrs ago, they were here but not in great numbers and did not range much further north. Now they are found as far north as the Dallas area, couple hundred miles north of us. Comin soon to a neighberhood near you!
And there are the plastic eating ants, I forget their name but they will infiltrate a vehicle, or house and they love to eat plastics, Especially the soy based plastics the environmentalists fawn over now and a lot of electrical insulation is made from!
The non- native ants have displaced the God given native ants that were not nearly as destructive and served a real purpose in OUR environment. I have posted several times about the fire ants in my compost bins and I'm sure some are gettin tired of listening to it. But in My environment they are a real threat.
If nothing else, think about seeing your child or grandchild come screaming to you with hundreds of ant bites like I have described above on his/her legs.
Sorry for the rant but I hate ants!

The first line or two had me prepping a hearty rebuttal involving fire ants. I buy the Ortho fire ant killer by that pallet from March through October. I almost never wear shoes at home and those nasty little bastards have nearly broken me of that. The worst was when I was doing my part to keep the good people who make Shiner Bock in business (I'm not a drinking man but, when I break character, I make up for the dry spell in spades) while bush-hogging the front pasture. I went to get off the tractor to move a branch, beer-stepped wrong and went knee first into a fire ant mound that was easily two feet across and a foot tall. Wearing unlaced work boots and shorts. I leaped up, taking what looked like a thousand of them with me and a lot of the damnable buggers fell off my leg and into my boot. That left many hundreds on my leg, and all of them set about doing the devil's work.

I looked like I had some sort of pox from my thigh to my toes (no socks; just doing my part keeping it sexy for the wife). Benadryl pills and lidocaine cream kept me from setting fire to the fields.

 

[Coops Dad]

So, yeah; ants are enemies.

 

[igorsMistress]

FYI ants can sometimes indicate that you aphids. Check under leaves.

 

[BlueBaby]

Those ant's will also bite your flock's, and I've had those ants eat some chick's alive in the grow-out pen. They seem to come out worst after any rain, so that's when I go hunt down where the nest's are at, and take care of the problem.

 

[raingarden]

Ants rule everything. They farm humans just like they farm aphids. We are their livestock. Accept your fate.

 

[artbykarenehaley]

I am thankful we don't struggle with fire ants in my environment. We have a lot of sugar ants here in Salem OR. they really are good at getting in the house. They seem to like outlets as a good way to sneak in.

Sugar ants are good in the garden as above mentioned, as an aphid indicator and a soil aerator, but can also cause some quirky issues.

I planted tricolor quinoa and burgundy amaranth seeds this year. When the first two rounds of plantings didn't sprout I thought I had bad seed, until I went out and took a closer look at an area I had recently sown. Lo and behold, some half sprouted seeds were being hauled away by the intrepid little invertebrates I had to pre sprout my amaranth and gave up on the quinoa. I was surprised to see that they were actually collecting sprouted seed but it makes sense.

My chickens discovered a nest with ant larvae, and they began to dig the nest up. They quit when they discovered ants like to swarm! No harm came to my birds but I did have to wipe a bunch of ants off a couple of my chicken's faces (eyes and nostrils, yukkkk) and dip their bodies in soapy water to get the ants out of their feathery pants. Again, very glad we don't have fire ants. It could have been worse.

The ones we don't want to see in our area are carpenter ants, the ones that eat wood and bite people (although they don't seem to have venom). The sight of them means your wood structures are at risk. My dad always told me to smash them if we saw them in the house.

I wish I could help you with ant control tips but I just co exist with them here. I've heard some folks pour boiling hot water or oil on the nests.