I'm with you. They stop being fascinating when they strip plants that are important to you.
The only thing I've found that stops them is Tanglefoot. They check it out, find out it's too gooey to cross, and move on. It works, but it takes a lot of time to apply and re-apply to each plant. I finally decided that if they're going to attack my garden, I'm going after theirs. I've been looking for a good fungicide I can spray my plants or the ground with that will deter them, but no luck so far. Bait doesn't work, and poison on the mound only makes them look for an alternate route. I even tried a systemic on my plants called Imidacloprid. It kept the aphids away, but not the leaf-cutters. This year, I'm going to try fertilizing with guano from an insectivore. Bat guano is supposed to have anti-fungal properties, and being an insectivore means there's a possibility of spreading an insect-specific pathogen that will affect the ants. I've read that some folks have had success with collecting the wastes from the ants themselves and scattering that around their plants. I have yet to find an ant waste pile. Brett ________________________________ From: JSSchneider1 [mailto:jsschneid...@peoplepc.com] Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 2010 4:36 PM To: Texas Cavers Subject: Fw: Fw: [Texascavers] leaf-cutter ants in Mexico I used to think they were fascinating until they began to cart off most of my garden seedlings. A & M's website has some useful information on Texas Leafcutters. The only thing I have found that works is to follow their trail back to the mound, and either use Amdro Ant Block ( not just regular Amdro), or Viper ( permethrin- which is a synthetic pyrethrin). Viper works right away, and Amdro Ant Block takes a couple of weeks to work.You have to keep at it. The label says you can dust your plants with Viper, but I don't put anything directly on my vegetable garden plants, just on the ant mound. --- On Mon, 1/18/10, JSSchneider1 <jsschneid...@peoplepc.com> wrote: ----- Original Message ----- From: Gill Edigar To: Denise P Cc: TexasCavers Sent: Monday, January 18, 2010 10:31 AM Subject: Re: [Texascavers] leaf-cutter ants in Mexico I am pretty sure--like 99%--that we had them in South Texas when I was a kid. I remember well watching them but don't recall a specific location--meaning, probably, that they were a common enough occurrence that they didn't invoke any great interest worthy of remembering. There were some ants in South Texas that made underground nests which humped up above ground (sorta like fireant mounds except 10x bigger) and which created large subsurface voids. On more than one occasion we were unlucky enough to drive over these mounds hidden by tall pasture grass and the front tire of the pick-up fell into them and the truck got stuck and we had to get towed out. It is my recollection that these were a type of leaf-cutter ant which, by the way, don't (or didn't) sting. Those events DID create specific memories. --Ediger On Mon, Jan 18, 2010 at 9:29 AM, Denise P <pepabe...@hotmail.com> wrote: I have heard a number of gardeners in the central Texas area complaining about them decimating their crops. I hear they are very hard to control. -d > From: bmixon...@austin.rr.com > To: texascavers@texascavers.com > Date: Mon, 18 Jan 2010 09:23:50 -0600 > Subject: [Texascavers] leaf-cutter ants in Mexico > > A few months ago there was a thread about leaf-cutter ants. Here's > something new about them from the Yucatan. Such ants can usually be > seen busily at work in Bustamante Canyon. I don't recall seeing them > in Texas, but I wouldn't be surprised if some were found in the > valley. -- Mixon > > > JIM CONRAD'S NATURALIST NEWSLETTER > > Issued from Hacienda Chichén beside the Maya ruin of > > Chichén Itzá in the central Yucatán, MÉXICO > > > > January 17, 2010 > ********** > > RETURN OF THE LEAFCUTTER ANTS > > The owners of Hacienda Chichen are justly proud of their pro- > > environment policies, which includes using as few > > chemicals as possible. The other day a worker not yet > > clear about the policy poisoned a large leafcutter > > nest because the ants had begun defoliating a Tropical > > Almond tree in the parking lot. As soon as we saw what > > had been done we made every effort to scoop all the > > poison and contaminated soil into plastic bags and > > dispose of the bags properly. > > > > Before the poisoning attempt, every day I'd seen the > > ants carrying bits of herbage back to their nest. > > However, after the poisoning for two weeks not a > > single ant was seen at the nest. I felt sure that the > > whole colony had been wiped out. It had been a colony > > as large as the one we saw last year at Yokdzenot. You > > still can read about that big nest and see it at > > http://www.backyardnature.net/yucatan/ant-lfcu.htm > > > > Wednesday morning, there were ants again. Moreover, > > not only had the colony resumed its earlier foraging > > habits, but also they seemed to have redoubled their > > efforts, for now many more ants than before were > > carrying cut-out leaf sections and they were moving > > faster. Anthropomorphically, they looked exactly as if > > they were trying to make up for lost time! You can see > > several on the trunk of a Gumbo-Limbo -- which after > > two days they'd defoliated nearly completely -- at > > http://www.backyardnature.net/n/10/100117lc.jpg > > > > That picture was made about 30 yards or meters from > > their nest and every inch of the trail between there > > and the nest was just as cluttered and bustling with > > leaf-carrying ants as in the picture. > > > > Of course I'm relieved that the nest seems to have > > survived. Sometimes visitors say that for them > > watching the ants is as fascinating as visiting the > > ruins! Also the experience has reminded me how like a > > single living organism an ant colony is. The colony > > became sick, stopped functioning, but then one day > > finally burst from home looking as healthy as ever, > > trying to make up for lost time. In fact, they're out > > there as I type this, a long, long line of them, > > gradually defoliating a hibiscus. > *********** > > Best wishes to all Newsletter Readers. > > > > Jim > > > > Subscribe AND unsubscribe to this Newsletter at > > http://www.backyardnature.net/news/natnat.php > > ---------------------------------------- > A bore is a person who talks when you wish him to listen. > ---------------------------------------- > You may "reply" to the address this message > came from, but for long-term use, save: > Personal: bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu > AMCS: edi...@amcs-pubs.org or sa...@amcs-pubs.org > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > Visit our website: http://texascavers.com > To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com > For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com > ________________________________ Hotmail: Trusted email with Microsoft's powerful SPAM protection. 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