These ants get angry when someone goes near them, by shaking their antennae angrily at the person. If it is within reach, it will give you a painful bite which swells. They form colonies by joining the leaves of plants together with a white sticky juice. When it falls from a height, it exudes this string like the spider. It is a nuisance in any garden.
Great photo!!!!!!! I have no answer, but wanted to complement you on your photo skills!!!!! And just maybe you were only passing on information and NOT looking for an answer!
Those are just three soldiers of the Great Army! Yes, just thought of sharing how these fellas look. Its length is about a cm.
Dinu, very interesting... I have seen many documentaries on ants, theyare something else. In tazmania there are some real nasty ants that attack people with no provocations and bite them, their poison is deadly.
Sounds like as much fun as our fire ants. Those little demons can pack a nasty bite, but meat tenderizer (papaya enzyme) will take lots of the sting out. Tenderizer also works on bee stings, by the way.
Boy am I having a problem with fire ants. If I put the granulars on them they popup just inches away. I am really having a fight with them & not sure who is gonna win :)
Sugar_fl If you have an organic nursery around you see if they carry beneficial nemetodes. The store should have them refrigerated and you should keep them cool on the way home. The only other thing I use is orange oil, pyrethrum,and molasses.
Dinu,
I'm not sure if these ants are the same ones but I do recall in parts of Malaysia where these weaver ants are being used to grow organic fruits. They are very effective in expanding to claim territory and killing off pests that would otherwise eat the fruit trees. They are supposedly more effective and obviously more invornmentally friendly. The ant colonies are placed through out the orchards/trees. These ants build a network along all the trees since the trees are all joined intentionally by the orchard owners/workers to allow the ants to do this. When the fruit is ready to be picked or when maintainence is needed by the trees they are simply sprayed with water. This forces the ants to retreat and hide in their colonies allowing the orchard workers to pick the fruit and do any needed maintainence. Pretty neat I though.
BugFreak
If you can find the hill or colony, pour a gallon or so of nearly boiling water into it. Human urine is suppose to be a deterent. Personally I prefer to just kill them. Not as organic but very effective is pouring gasoline, kerosine, etc mixed with old motor oil over and into the colony and setting it on fire.
Re: fire ants. I was told never to put the granules ON the nest. They see it as a threat and just carry them off. Put it away from the opening and they will carry it inside. Don't know how true this is. I use the boiling water method myself.
Pati
PS GREAT picture!
Yes, I too use kerosene and it is quite effective in killing them. It controls the aphids too to a great extent. I saw it myself on my hibiscus plant this season. These nests are all over the place including my neighbour's. It bites only when it is angry.
Dinu, that was one grand picture. We have had ants every year, they clean up dead snails and otherwise are the garden garbage collectors. As long as they stay out of the house and the inner garden, we get along just fine. A line of poisons have always kept them in line. So far.
Suddenly we are over run and this year these common little brown ants bite! Inside the house I discovered a counter covered with them, placed a variety of sweet baits for them and almost a week later, I think I am simply feeding these guys. Store baits, borax and pyretheum and arsenic based, then borax mixed with corn syrup. Nothing seems to be slowing the stream down. Because of their path, I can't locate their trail to the nest. Any suggestions? I am declaring war, I want these guys gone!
New camera, better shots. They continue to be a bane. But not harmful if left alone.
I think I read something about putting down grits and then watering them makes them explode..it was on a thread at dg. That reminds me that I was going to buy grits yesterday while shopping and forgot. Oh well, next time. I'll see if I can find it again.
I once read that a mix of boric acid, sugar and water, placed in a can and placed on its side will kill them The sugar attracts and the boric acid kills in the nest.
okay, I found it under Crafts and Decorating? Feed the ants grits, after they have eaten it, spread water on the mound and they will explode. I haven't tried it yet, but sounds interesting. It also mentions ants do not like cucumber peels. Other ideas there also.
Cucumber peels.. will have to try this interesting one.
When we lived in the tropics, we used cucumber peels to deter roaches. Hadn't thought about the ants.
Weaver ants. Oecophylla smaragdina.
[This is just to bring up the thread to link elsewhere]
Dinu your photography is awesome I must say.
Fire ants are hard to kill. They are not very interested in the sweet traps / poison that works for other types of ants. (At least the ones down here). You can try the boiling water, but I have also found that if you bother them enough they will pack up and move on, hopefully farther away. They do not like wet ground. If you spray the mound with your garden hose a couple times they get annoyed at having to rebuild and move on. I have used the gasoline trick before on different areas of my property, but I try to keep chemicals far away from my garden.
That reminds me, has anyone else had to deal with these new "crazy ants" that are popping up across south florida? Or even worse, the "trap-jaw ants"? When you start dealing with these you'll be missing the fire ants.
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