Ants eating carrots

[mystang89]

Ok, so quick down and dirty. Found ants eating my carrots. Anyone else seen this before? They were literally making tunnels through my carrots and putting their eggs on them then tending them. I've also seen something similar on my grape vines. On the very edges of the grape vines, the new growth, I would see ants with their little eggs. I thought at first the eggs were something the ants were eating or something like that but its not. The areas on the vines where the ants are with their eggs eventually turn brown and die, almost like the ants are sucking the life out of the vine.


....anyone or am I completely craazy?

 

[akane]

Are you sure they aren't aphid eggs? Ants will carry them to other plants where they will feed off the plant. There are a variety of aphids that are different colors and have different eggs. I haven't heard of and cannot find an ant species that nests on plants. Usually cocoons are only taken above ground when the nest is in danger and there are a few obscure species that don't really nest but just travel through an area.

 

[mystang89]

I am not sure they are ant eggs but why would ants carry aphid eggs to a different plant so the aphids can eat the plant? I thought ants ate aphids.

 

[Miss M]

The carrot thing, yes, ants are completely capable of tunneling and nesting in carrots. I have had them do annoying things like that, and you can do a search and find other people complaining about that very thing.

The grape vine, though... those egg-looking things are most likely aphids. They are what's sucking the vine dry, and the ants are basically "farming" the aphids. They don't eat aphids; they milk them like cows.

You can put grits out around your carrots, and hope the ants will take it and eat it. It isn't a fast-acting thing, but it does kill ants. You can put them around the grape vine, too, but the grits won't kill the aphids. I think you'll need horticultural oil for that.

 

[akane]

Ants eat honeydew, which is sugary goo that comes out of some insects while feeding on plant sap. Other animals use it too. Bees can make a very rich honey out of it. The honeydew itself can cause harm to plants besides what the aphids do directly. The ants spread the aphids, protect them from predatory insects, and squeeze out the honeydew.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

They were literally making tunnels through my carrots and putting their eggs on them then tending them.

Huh. No... that is a new one for me.

I had a weird ant thing happen recently, as did a friend of mine.

She puts pine pellets in her trays to absorb urine, and found some little ants making a nest in there. Not two weeks later, I went to dump a nest box that had been pulled from a cage and left sitting in my bunnybarn for a week or two, also containing pine pellets, and lo and behold, there was an ant nest in it! :shock:

Maybe the ants are suffering the aftereffects of the "housing bubble" as well, and are forced to colonize new real estate? :?

 

[mystang89]

That is all VERY interesting information indeed, especially the Housing market collapsing for the ants (I tell you, no one got away from that one.) Really though, I didn't know any of that. I did a search on ants eating carrots and came up with nothing about it but I knew that I would be able to find everything here I needed at RABBITTalk

 

[akane]

I was poking around the garden and found giant grey bugs destroying leaves of squash plants. I didn't know aphids got that big. I've seen the little green ones on some of my mom's plants but that's it. I didn't see any ants but many of shown up in the house so they might be around. Now we have to come up with aphid control. : I wonder if DE kills the buggers cause I just found a bulk, cost effective source for it.

 

[Miss M]

That is all VERY interesting information indeed, especially the Housing market collapsing for the ants (I tell you, no one got away from that one.) Really though, I didn't know any of that. I did a search on ants eating carrots and came up with nothing about it but I knew that I would be able to find everything here I needed at RABBITTalk

Well, naturally I can't find the pages I found earlier. :?

 

[mystang89]

The Google gurus deleted the pages knowing that you wanted to find them again. They did that when I first started looking for them.

 

[Miss M]

You're probably right! :roll: Wouldn't be the first time they've done that to me!

 

[hoodat]

When I see ants on my carrots a closer inspection will usually reveal aphids or mealy bugs right at the crown. I get rid of them with a combination of greensoap and neem oil. Be sure to let the spray run down into the crown. Neem oil seems pricey at first but a little goes a long way and it stores for a long time. Both are organic sprays and harmless to humans and animals. You should be able to find both at a good garden shop or you can order them from Amazon.

 

[mystang89]

Thanks hoodat. I have some Neem oil that I use on my apples trees for rust *hasn't helped yet* so next year I'll use it for the carrots.