I have noticed a single ant on every leaf intersection of one or two of my Straight Eight cucumber plants. The plants are healthy and thriving and there are no other pests to be found on the plants or in the vicinity I.e. no aphids. Looking at the individual ants very closely they appear to be simply sitting there passing the time of day. Not feeding (their heads are raised up) or moving, just 'hanging out' and seemingly enjoying the view. I have never seen this sort of behavior before and wondered if someone had any idea what is actually going on.
As I said, the plants are perfectly healthy and there is no clear reason I can see or think of as to why they are there. The frame is metal/wire and there is no nest or ant 'traffic' . Just solitary ants at each leaf node.
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HotPepperMan
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Cola82
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It's possible they have a parasitic fungus like cordyceps. These kinds of infections can cause ants to seek out certain terrain and they become fixed in place, eventually becoming an anchor for the fungus' fruiting bodies.
Here's a wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophiocordy ... ilateralis
Here's a wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophiocordy ... ilateralis