Black ants on white daisies plants

Mojisola

SunMoonStars wrote: »

Yes, the ants farm the aphids towards specific plants like the daisies, then feed off the honeydew that is produced by the mouth parts of the aphids when they feed. Clever eh?

The honeydew comes out of the other end of the aphids!

kerri_gt

Sea_Shell wrote: »

I've got black aphids making a right mess of my Mock Orange bushes!!

We've tried washing them off and spraying with Bugclear, but still they persist.

Any good remedies??? Where are all the ladybirds when you need them!!

I seem to recall a mix of water, washing up liquid and olive oil is supposed to basically suffocate the aphids as they breathe through their skin.

However, although they don't look pretty, aphids have their place in the eco system and low to moderate numbers don't actually really harm plants. We used to have several elder trees that always had aphids.

[Deleted User]

Mojisola wrote: »

The honeydew comes out of the other end of the aphids!

Yes, the ants harvest the honeydew from the bottoms of aphids

I had a shrub a few years ago where the ants were guarding aphids and 'milking' them. It was fascinating. I ended up sacrificing the shrub so I could watch them (it was eventually sucked to death by the aphids).

I have loads and loads of ants in the garden and just ignore them - so long as they do not come into the house.

One year we had flying ants and sat outside as they were taking off. Blue and red damselflies were catching them in-flight for lunch. Fascinating.

Plus the birds eat the ants too.

So, personally would just ignore them and leave them be.