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The ants descended from wasps and termites from cockroaches. Who would you rather hang with?
Unfair question. Each have their role.
to sense
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- Greener Thumb
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- swickstrum
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Good grief, that's a 20 gallon pot! One gallon is 8lbs., your looking at what? 160 lbs. of boiling water... yowsa! Be careful you don't burn yourself.gumbo2176 wrote:Later today I'll head back out and remove as many worms and place them in the other piles and set up my seafood boiling pot (80 qt.) to see if that get rid of them. I'm not happy with termites anywhere near my house.
- Troppofoodgardener
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Although that may be true, ants bring their own problems too.rot wrote:..
Ants are the natural enemies of termites. They are ancient enemies.
You might consider keeping the ants around next time.
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I have black ants which farm mealybugs all over my plants, whether they are in garden beds or containers. The mealybugs have destroyed more than their fare share of plants.
And as far as I know, ants have no native predators here in the warmer climates of Australia. Might be different for the U.S. though.
- applestar
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Padum-pum!
One year, I saw a Yellow-shafted Flicker for the first time in my garden. It has a sleek appearance, with a distinctive black bib and other markings. It was in the middle of the summer, and it was pecking at the dry ground. I can tell you I rushed to get my binocs and birding book for ID. I was mighty curious because to me, it looked like some kind of a woodpecker and I had no idea what it was doing on the ground.
It turns out that ants are one of flickers favorite foods and this one was digging up and disturbing ant nests. Another summer, I saw one tossing aside leaves and debris from a crevice between rocks bordering the edge of a garden bed, and then gobble up a cutworm.
One year, I saw a Yellow-shafted Flicker for the first time in my garden. It has a sleek appearance, with a distinctive black bib and other markings. It was in the middle of the summer, and it was pecking at the dry ground. I can tell you I rushed to get my binocs and birding book for ID. I was mighty curious because to me, it looked like some kind of a woodpecker and I had no idea what it was doing on the ground.
It turns out that ants are one of flickers favorite foods and this one was digging up and disturbing ant nests. Another summer, I saw one tossing aside leaves and debris from a crevice between rocks bordering the edge of a garden bed, and then gobble up a cutworm.
- swickstrum
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I wish we had those down here in Texas, it looks like they are more of a northern bird. We need some help with these stinking fire ants!One year, I saw a Yellow-shafted Flicker for the first time in my garden. It has a sleek appearance, with a distinctive black bib and other markings. It was in the middle of the summer, and it was pecking at the dry ground. I can tell you I rushed to get my binocs and birding book for ID. I was mighty curious because to me, it looked like some kind of a woodpecker and I had no idea what it was doing on the ground.
It turns out that ants are one of flickers favorite foods and this one was digging up and disturbing ant nests.
- Troppofoodgardener
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OHohohohhoohoh!rot wrote:..Troppofoodgardener wrote:
And as far as I know, ants have no native predators here in the warmer climates of Australia. Might be different for the U.S. though.
Maybe some uncles?
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Took me a while to 'translate', as the word "aunt" is actually pronounced more like "aren't" in my part of the world...
But going on applestar's last post, I wish could import some Yellow-shafted Flickers!
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- Greener Thumb
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Sorry 'bout that. I was afraid the pronunciation was going to bungle things but I couldn't resist. Something perverse compelled me. I know some folks say 'awnt' and I could never get used to that. He's got ants in his pants you know.
I'm looking for one of those flicker things to come eat my aphids.
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Sorry 'bout that. I was afraid the pronunciation was going to bungle things but I couldn't resist. Something perverse compelled me. I know some folks say 'awnt' and I could never get used to that. He's got ants in his pants you know.
I'm looking for one of those flicker things to come eat my aphids.
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For a bit of an update. No more evidence of termites in the compost pile. I did the 80 qt. boiling water treatment AFTER I removed as many earthworms as I could dig up. It must have been close to 150 of them because each shovel full turned over a handful.
I dipped the water out of the pot after turning over the pile and poured it a gallon at a time over the offending critters. After that, I kept turning over the pile a couple times a day for a week or so. I doubt I killed the queen since she was likely pretty far underground but it looks like the colony moved. Now, just where they moved to is left to speculation. I can only hope not closer to the house. I HATE termites.
I dipped the water out of the pot after turning over the pile and poured it a gallon at a time over the offending critters. After that, I kept turning over the pile a couple times a day for a week or so. I doubt I killed the queen since she was likely pretty far underground but it looks like the colony moved. Now, just where they moved to is left to speculation. I can only hope not closer to the house. I HATE termites.
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