Ants and Banisteriopsis caapi

[planthelper]

same here, we are like buddhist monks in that regard, at least our water is clean enogh, not to have to filter it, so not to hurt creatures.

aswell, the quick side step, one does if you see a creature, you would have stepped on, helps to practice side steping snakes in the bush, something that happens, not too seldom....

[kadakuda]

Ants sure are amazing creatures. I am always amazed at what they can do.

planthelper, is that Anadenanthera? mine are like yours, adn ants make very good use of them here (not Aus).

Out of curiosity, are Australian ants known to be something different than other regions?

[planthelper]

hi, kada

ants, surprise me again and again, now they have discovered my orchids, and to get to them they have to crawl for 50cm or more, along a wire, and the wire is fitted high up, onto the corner of the house!!

i don't know, if any ants are special in oz, apart of the honey ants, but i'v never seen them.

the pictures, are said to be of a cebil, it's not my plant, i only encircled some details and reposted.

you might know that one, why do the ants carry small potting mix particles into the crown of the bigger flowering lophs?

[Bert&Ernie]

why do the ants carry small potting mix particles into the crown of the bigger flowering lophs?

Some sort of basket ball game?

[tarenna]

My understanding is that Australia has one of the most diverse and unique assemblages of ants in the world. Not sure if that answers your question kadakuda.

[planthelper]

Some sort of basket ball game?

i think, they provide cover, for the scales this way.

if seen them doing a similar thing, with some cuttings, once i wiped the particles off, there were critters underneath, not 100% if it was scale, but pretty certain.

edit: i know how scale looks like, i mean my memory is weak....

Edited February 27, 2013 by planthelper

[Bert&Ernie]

yea they did the same sort of thing on my Cereus cutting.. cvered the whole pup in sand and dirt for protection or something

[kadakuda]

I think you are right about those nests being for pest farming, in fact i notice it with scale as well. I should get some shots. they LOVE to do this on my miracle fruit trees wher ethey farm teh scale which does incredibly well on the fruit and tender parts fo teh plants.

on cactus i dont see them do it with pests, but i do see them do it on lophs and wooly flat tops. i have been thinking it si due to teh flowers/fruits/seeds which they chew up and carry away. my other thought was nesting, but then the ants here are undergound fellas so i doubt they will be going up on a bench onto the top of a cactus in bright hot sun to make a nest.

[ghosty]

while black ants do kill / eat termites, they fail to access them due to the fact that termites live and travel in underground networks. so, they will not stop your house from being eaten out by them. if you expose the termites though, then black ants have a field day LOL. i do some work for a termite mob here and there.

[Change]

All this talk about ants has got me interested, so i download a documentary called Ants Natures Secret Power

It turned out to be one of though documentary that keep repeating one or two interesting points over and over again.

So do any of you Sabers have a good ant/insect documentaries ?

[kadakuda]

The best ant documentary is a live 24/7 feed. to access, go outside..some lucky people may not even have to leave the comfort of their homes.

in canada we have "black ants" we call carpenter ants which do a number on termites. some ants do severe damage to wood houses on their own i think.

EDIT:

here is apic in philippines. the stemps were bulged out and hollow like this and what i thought at the time were spiders would come out very fast. back and only 1 per "room". too fast to see, but now i can see ants ebing possible?

Edited March 1, 2013 by kadakuda

[Micromegas]

Since removing the ants the plant in question has been booming. It's grown a foot and a half in every direction in 6 weeks. Maybe they were farming aphids, still a few ants around but boy what a change. It put all this new growth on and 6 inches more since the photo.

[Nemisty]

This has been puzzling me for the last little while this ant riddle. I have two foot high plants and one about 20cm. Whenever I check on them periodically through out the day, without fails there's always ants constantly running up them and yet no small insects/parasites seem to be anywhere on the plants. I wonder if the leaves are secreting something that they're harvesting?

[mira]

How old is that colubrina, Micromegas?

[Micromegas]

^ second growing season I think, maybe two and half. They grow really quick sometimes, at other times not. I planted a one foot old seedling out in April of last year, it sat and looked cold over winter, then this spring and summer it grew 8 feet tall with a stem as big as a finger. It was definitely the best performer in my garden this year. Interestingly, it had meat ants crawling on it and they didn't do any damage to the plant, only sugar ants.

This plant above was also planted in april of last year as a 1 1/2 foot seedling. They respond well to lots of water and nutrients, shelter from wind, and lots of sun. But some just don't seem to want to grow, it's weird. Next year, some will not be watered which will test them out for sure. Without supplementary watering, it may just be too dry in summer.