Are ordinary little black ants harmful to the roses bushes??
I have lots of them running over my leaves, buds, branches, canes, and the soil around - in other words, all over.
Anyone have experiece??
They will sometimes set up housekeeping among the roots, but I don't think they really do much direct harm. The only thing I've see ants do that I would consider "harmful" to my plants is to bring in aphids.
Ants sometimes "farm" aphids, much like we do dairy cattle. The ants like the sweet honeydew the aphids excrete. They carry the aphids to the tenderest and juiciest parts of the plants, to make it easy for them to feed on the plants' sap. Then they stroke the aphids to make them secrete honeydew, which the ants eat and take back to the nest to feed to the rest of the colony. The ants also offer the aphids protection from predators.
I suppose it's possible that ants could cause direct damage to plants, and I have just never experienced it.
Ants sometimes "farm" aphids, much like we do dairy cattle. The ants like the sweet honeydew the aphids excrete. They carry the aphids to the tenderest and juiciest parts of the plants, to make it easy for them to feed on the plants' sap. Then they stroke the aphids to make them secrete honeydew, which the ants eat and take back to the nest to feed to the rest of the colony. The ants also offer the aphids protection from predators.
I suppose it's possible that ants could cause direct damage to plants, and I have just never experienced it.
Whenever I've seen more than occasional ants on my roses, they have *most definitely* been in conjunction with aphids.
I squashed the aphids when there weren't so many that it made no difference. When there were that many, I purchased a neem-based product and used it. It did a very good job, on both the aphids and the ants. (Not sure if it killed the ants or just removed the attraction; the aphids OTOH were dead.)
Pretty quick results, too; maybe a couple of days?
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
I squashed the aphids when there weren't so many that it made no difference. When there were that many, I purchased a neem-based product and used it. It did a very good job, on both the aphids and the ants. (Not sure if it killed the ants or just removed the attraction; the aphids OTOH were dead.)
Pretty quick results, too; maybe a couple of days?
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9