leafless ferns
I knew it would happen sooner or later, it was yesterday. We noticed that the ferns were looking like this, and many of the lily pads looked like lace or had shrunk to a quarter of their size the day before. When we got home from a great Indian dinner at the new Namaste Grill with the Dodwell’s, Tom & Debi and Duke & Theresa, we went out with the flashlight and found the army in full attack.
They were using the pads that were touching the side of the pond and a papyrus that was leaning over to get out into the middle of the pond and cut up the new pads coming up. It is frightening how fast they work and how organized they are. Ants WILL inherit the earth, I’m convinced of it.
pads neatly reduced in size
There wasn’t much we could do, we moved the pads and papyrus so it didn’t touch the sides and went to bed. Generally these ants are nocturnal but when I got up at 8 this morning they were still out there in full attack. They had gone around to the other side of the pond and again gotten out onto the pads.
on the far side of the pond
such neat cuts
they are fast too
beginning of the long trek home
up the wall
across the wall
Mimi tracked them and their nest is somewhere in our neighbors yard. Her yard is totally overgrown and nothing but her dog ever goes out there. So, we won’t be able to find the nest to kill them. Theresa told me about Trompa and I went off to get it today. I got the last bottle of it at Home Depot and I had to search around behind the other poisons to find it. We will put the granules in their path tonight and hopefully they will take it home and it will kill them all. No mercy.
They are relentless and they can completely strip a large citrus tree of leaves in one night. They will be back but I hope I can keep them away for awhile. If you are interested in them, and they are really very interesting, here’s the wiki link
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Also, all the pictures are clickable for a larger version if you really want to see the little beasts. Mostly these are the workers, large and with the cutting jaws. I didn’t see any of the warriors and I did see the scouts but don’t think I got a picture of them. I couldn’t resist and hosed the lot of them off the wall and into the pond before I went off to Home Depot. The Mollies were great, they chomped them right up when they fell in the water. They are all gone now in the middle of the day but they will be back tonight. Now, I have to steel myself and go and get in the pond and cut the pads back a lot so nothing is touching the sides. Creepy.
We have the same problem with the lily pads and some flowers in the yard. It is amazing how fast they can destroy a plant. I have used Raid to disrupt their trails with pretty good results so far, but they come back after a week or so. I have to remember to check things out with a flashlight before bed time to catch the beasts. I will give the Trompa a try also. I was also thinking of trying DE—but don’t recall seeing it anywhere here.
Good luck!
I don’t know what trompa is but our landscaper said that the same ingredient that is in Frontline (the dog and cat stuff) will take care of them. I guess it can be sprayed on the leaves and they’ll take it back and get the whole colony. That’s all I know, sorry. He sprayed our lawn with it when we had mysterious cut grass but since we never saw them we weren’t sure. Good luck!
Roll up those pant legs and head for the pool amiga! Bummer about the bugs – they will inherit earth.
Sorry to hear about the destruction,, I know you are trying the trompa/Raid.. but have you tried the “olde-fashioned” fix of boric acid (and possibly mixed with a bit of sugar) to create a barrier around your planters? I do not know how it would work on the voracious little predators you have in the tropics, but it does seem to work on those we have up here in NC – including FireAnts..
Cheers!
Dan in NC
What’s the latest with the leaf-cutters? I sympathize with your battle–we have TONS of them on our farm. i’ve been attempting to dig up a nest but it’s just SO DEEP. And then i read about the vicious warrior ants, ugh. You are hilarious, i agree they will inherit the earth!
saludos!
Liz
Dan, we do use boric acid and sugar for the ants in the house, usually they are called crazy ants (for the way they run around) or electric ants because they love to live in your wiring – they eat the insulation as well. Anyway, our usual boric acid and sugar mix is carried off by them but they never stop coming for more. Scary thought but if it is working and killing the ones that carry it off, there must be an endless supply of ants in the walls of our house. yuck. Oh, and it won’t work on the leaf cutters because they aren’t attracted by sugars. I think they would just route around a line of boric acid if it were even possible to put one out. We are in the rainy season now and no powder will last outside.
Liz, the trompa worked a charm. no more leaf cutters from that direction. I do expect another nest at some time but now I have a defense.