Currently sowing a tiny garden for my field ants. I've kept field ants before and they didn't really thrive. I'm hoping if I can arrange for them to tend a heard of aphids they will be happier.
They colony is about 15 strong, and the queen is lovely shiny and black. They are also very nervous and freak out at every new sound and vibration. Will a box of green plants calm them? We shall see!
@futurebird Regarding aphids: I just found an aphid infestation in my garden (central Europe), tended to by ants, and I was wondering: I assume ants are territorial and not all species farm aphids...wouldn't it be possible to control aphids by introducing competing ant species that would push out the aphid farming colony?
I haven't seen this aphid control method mentioned anywhere, and you came to mind as the ant expert who might know :)
Ants that don't farm aphids won't have a good reason to be on the plant. The best bet is removing the aphids with some sticky tape. This will annoy the ants, but they have other options for food.
@futurebird
There is an ant colony that caters to the aphids in my redcurrant bush. There are so many aphids the leaves curl, yet the plant keeps producing currants. I hate picking them as the ants sting me.
@futurebird
Good question about the species. I don't consider them big enemies so have done less research!
They are black ones you see in gardens a lot in the Netherlands. Possibly Lasius niger? I shall try to stare at them more to figure it out this summer. I think the same species also likes making colonies in the bag of compost I keep in the greenhouse.
@futurebird
Oh could well be a bite sorry. It just stings when they do so, but I don't think they use their hind part. It's not extremely painful and passes quickly. Is formic acid involved in an ant bite?
It can be. Ants that can't sting will bite then apply acid to make it hurt more.
Try looking at this page with a location filter ('filter by place,' on the upper-right corner) and see if you can recognize them. I find it's the fastest way to identify ants:
Hopefully the ants can keep the aphids from killing them. Ants will move their herds to keep them from overgrazing a single leaf... and they sometimes eat a few of the heard.
The aphids do not even seem to notice and are very docile as they are carried around and fussed over by the frantic ants.
I was just going to collect them from the park. So many of them tend to be basically double-pregnant* nearly all of the time so you only need one or two to get a boom...
*double pregnant is when you are pregnant with babies who are also already pregnant... aphids are the apex fertility masters of the animal kingdom. It's crazy.
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