A couple of years ago I learned about ants, aphids and honeydew. Although this whole relationship can become the bane of my existence, I find it quite fascinating.
While the aphids destroy our plants by sucking the life out of them, they produce sugary secretions called honeydew that ants just can’t get enough of.
I don’t mind ants in my garden and I really don’t worry that much about aphids but together they can be formidable. You see it’s sort of a symbiotic relationship. The aphids eat the plants and produce honeydew. The ants eat the honeydew and in return offer the aphids protection. The ants consider this tasty sticky sweet stuff a very precious commodity and in return fight off the aphids’ natural predators such as ladybugs. It sounds sort of Mafia-like.
Ants have been known to bite the wings off aphids to keep them from getting away and taking their sugary food source with them. There are chemicals that are produced in the glands of ants that obstruct the growth of aphid wings. Some scientists believe that the ants actually produce a tranquilizing chemical that keeps the aphids subdued, making them easier to control.
I said it was sort of a symbiotic relationship because the aphids definitely get the short end of the stick sometimes they even get eaten by their “protectors.” But that’s O.K. because aphids reproduce asexually. They become fully mature in 7-8 days and give birth to about 12 live offspring at a time. Each adult aphid can have about eighty babies in about a week.
This explains the now you see them, now you see a billion of them phenomenon that happens in my garden. Boom. All of a sudden I’ll have a bazillion aphids where there were just a few the day before.
No worries, I just hose them off, flick them off, or use my own peppermint soap concoction. Aphids aren’t that hard to get rid of unless, of course, you also have those pesky ants.
Black aphids—along with the Ant Mafia—destroyed my fava bean crop this year. So I ripped them all out and started some tomatoes where the favas were.
Before I planted my tomatoes though, I ripped everything out and raked the area. Then my son, the ant-killer, and I went through the surrounding area looking for that ant colony I knew existed. I was just about to give up; as a matter of fact I had planted five tomato plants, when I noticed a few ants. I poked around a bit and turned up a HUGE colony about 18 inches wide by three feet long and full of white eggs.
I set my son loose on them. Boys and destruction go so well together.
OMG, that is the most frightening thing I can imagine. You could actually have fallen into that colony of ants. Ugh! I've got the heebie-jeebies now.
Posted by: Heather's Garden | May 01, 2008 at 05:40 PM
Heather,
It's true I could have been ant food. Well, maybe not, these ants are so small I needed my reading glasses to find them. I'm sure they are really scary to lady bugs though.
Posted by: chigiy | May 01, 2008 at 10:45 PM
I wonder what Honeydew tastes like and how much a bazillion aphids could make?
Honeydew on toast or stirred in tea sounds nice. Peanut butter and honeydew sounds like they were made for each other. So many possibilities for something sweet.
100% natural Aphid juice.
A good way to start your day. One sip in the morning is enough to guarantee the rest of your day will be better.
Posted by: wiseacre | May 02, 2008 at 10:16 AM
I enjoyed reading about ants ans aphids. ;-)
Posted by: Dirty Knees | May 03, 2008 at 11:54 AM
Oh how I hate those little buggers. My wife hates that the plants I bring in from outside are full of ants.
Posted by: Curtis | May 04, 2008 at 05:03 PM
Wiseacre,
Now I know where you get your name.
Trust me, a bazillion aphids can make a lot of honeydew.
Stop talking about honeydew, I'm afraid ants are going to start reading my blog. And why does it have the same name as the melon?
I don't really want to think about aphid juice or I'll spew.
Dirty Knees,
Thank you.
Curtis,
I think hate is a strong word but I don't like ants in my house either.
Posted by: chigiy | May 04, 2008 at 11:01 PM
Can I borrow your son from time to time to get rid of the ants in my garden too? ;-)
Posted by: Yolanda Elizabet | May 06, 2008 at 11:05 AM
This was a very informative post, Chigiy!
Ants seldom made me nervous in IL but once we moved to Texas it was different. Whenever ants appear now I jump back in case they're horrible fire ants. I haven't tried peppermint soap, but do use orange oil.
That colony sounds creepy but your son probably had fun.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Posted by: Annie in Austin | May 11, 2008 at 08:17 PM