Insect pests that attract ants

Insects that attract ants  (Scale insect sketch by Jane Gates)

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There are some insect pests that exude a sticky sweet residue that ants love. These insects can become serious threats to the health of your plants and attract ants to make you life even more difficult.

 Aphids, scale and mealybug are the three most common insects that are found attacking indoor and outdoor plants. All these insects are equipped with sharp mouth pieces and suck the juice from healthy plants. They tend to form thick colonies in the most vulnerable areas of plant growth; new sprouts, joints and the under surfaces of leaves.

Ants love the sticky sap-like fluid these insects produce. Often you can diagnose an attack of scale or mealybug first by the honey-like sticky drops noticeable on leaves and other surfaces below the infestations. Or you will be alerted to the problem by the huge number of ants that are suddenly crawling all over your plants.

Ants so love these honey-producing pests that they will actually ‘farm’ them, carrying them or herding them from one plant to another to encourage the colonies to increase. This may be good news for the ants, but it sure isn’t good news for plants or gardeners.

Aphids are the easiest to remove since their week spindly legs are incapable of climbing back up the plant once knocked off with a simple stream of water. Unfortunately, aphids form such dense colonies and squeeze into tiny cracks so it is hard to remove all of them and you have to keep washing the afflicted plants to remove adults, nymphs and hatching eggs off until they are finally gone. Insecticidal soaps will also help kill colonies of aphids.

Scale and mealybug insects are harder to kill since they are protected by their waxy and fluffy coatings. They don’t wash away easily and are less vulnerable to soaps. Sometimes the only choice is to resort to using systemic poisons. The only way to save plants infested with scale and mealybugs is to treat them early and persistently. To make things worse, the ants will be busy trying to rescue their honey-producing flocks and will even carry them off to other plants to start new communities.

If you suddenly discover ants in your home moving around your house plants or clambering all over your favorite garden plants outdoors, check right away for signs of these insect pests. Getting rid of the ants may not be removing the problem and if any of these insects are setting up home on your plants, the ants may only a warning of the real problem. Aphids, scale and mealybug are insects that attract ants and can kill plants indoors and out.