How to get rid of ants in trees

If ants have settled in the garden, vegetable garden or greenhouse, this can cause significant harm to the plants. Fighting ants requires knowledge of their vulnerabilities, effective methods of fighting them. This article goes into more detail on how to get rid of ants on trees.

general information

Ants are widespread throughout almost the entire planet. Currently, more than nine thousand species of them are known.

However, in central Russia, only three of their varieties are most common:

1. These ants are named Redhead Myrmika... Their length is 4-5 mm. The color of insects can be from red-brown to yellow. They prefer to eat various small arthropods. They are actively engaged in breeding and eating aphids. They eat both live and dead insects.
2. Forest red ant characterized by an average size. It is black and red in color. It is listed in the Red Data Book of threatened species.
3. Black garden ant Is the one that mainly lives in orchards and vegetable gardens. It includes earth ants, which are relatively small in size. Their average length is 3 mm. The uterus is almost twice as large. Their length can be up to 10 mm. It feeds on live and dead insects, actively breeds and eats aphids. This is their main food. In addition to her, they eat other foods.

The latter ant species is the subject of this article. They are of particular interest due to the fact that the life of each anthill can be characterized as social.

Black garden ant

In addition, there is a widespread belief that these insects are beneficial: "work tirelessly" and the like. In fact, they, like other living beings, do what is beneficial for them. At the same time, they affect raspberries, cucumbers, currants, and other plants in the garden, vegetable garden or greenhouse, often harming them.

However, in some cases, the activity of these insects has some useful aspects.

Impact on the outside world

Although now we are talking about ants, their life is very much connected with herds of aphids. The latter are constantly on the underside of the leaves, destroying the integrity of their protective layer. Ants actually act as the shepherds of these herds. Aphids are tasty food for them. However, if there is not enough such food, the ants themselves infect the plants to provide themselves with conditions when there is enough food. Thus, they attract other insect pests. In a similar way, they are related to leaf beetles, some types of caterpillars and cicadas. Therefore, to fight, you need to find at the same time a remedy for aphids and ants.

Ants seek out the nutrients they need wherever they can. In particular, they can be found in the seeds of various plants. As a result, by moving the seeds along the underground passages dug by them, the ants help spread, including weeds.

These insects are especially fond of sweet foods. Berries of garden plants, fruits of fruit trees - one of the types of their food. Flowers are also their delicacy.

In addition, they themselves are food for birds. Some of the latter deliberately dip into the anthill to protect themselves from insect pests.

Breaking through underground passages, these insects are actually engaged in loosening the soil.

However, the benefit from them is insignificant, and the harm is great. If they start in a vegetable garden or garden plot, you need to get them out of there.

These insects lead a rather complex lifestyle. In a sense, it can be called social. All ants are divided into three castes:

• soldiers are both the fighting and labor force of the anthill;
• uterus give birth to new ant individuals;
• males play an important role in egg fertilization.

The last category appears only during the period of time when it is time for reproduction. The main role in the process of maintaining the life of the collective of insects is played by the soldier ants. When an enemy appears, their first reaction is to fight back. The queens behave differently: they try to save themselves by flight with maximum efficiency, thereby ensuring the safety of the offspring.

Ants on a pear

Most of the time, the ant family consists of queens, soldier ants, and brood, which includes pupae, eggs and larvae. When planning how to get rid of ants in trees, you need to take into account that this can only be done by destroying their entire family.

How to deal with ants on a pear - it is best to dig up anthills around and pour boiling water over the rest of the place in case there are still insects left.

What is the danger

The harm caused by these insects is quite diverse. Here are some additional examples:

1. Ants harm the roots of trees and bushes by gnawing them and placing their colonies there. Therefore, getting rid of them is a necessity.
2. Their diet includes plant juices. In order to get them, insects gnaw them, dramatically reducing resistance to disease.
3. They can directly eat the seeds of garden and horticultural plants.
4. In some cases, they arrange their colonies next to young shoots or seedlings of useful plants. As a result, they are damaged.
5. Insects are able to influence the characteristics of the soil in which they live. Their impact sometimes leads to an increase in soil acidity, which is harmful for many plants. To remove the acidity of the soil, special measures are needed.
6. Ants love to eat raspberries or other berries, as well as some fruits because of their sweetness.

The main parts of the anthill are underground. Therefore, getting rid of the ant colony is completely difficult. On the other hand, if their uterus remains, then they, even if significant damage is done, will quickly restore their numbers.

How to fight correctly

In order to effectively build a fight against them, to protect against ants, it is necessary to determine its main directions.

In order to completely get rid of these insects, it is necessary to destroy the entire anthill, including queens and larvae. The situation is complicated by the fact that they are usually underground and at the first sign of danger they run and hide.

Therefore, you need to find a place where the anthill is underground, dig it up and try to completely destroy the ant family.

When fighting ants, it is important to separate them from the aphids, which are their main food source. One of the variants of this is the following method.The trunk of a birch or other tree is wrapped with a tape of cellophane 5 cm wide. In the middle of the tape, the trunk is tied with twine, abundantly greased with turpentine. This turns out to be an insurmountable barrier for ants. Then comes the turn of the destruction of the anthill.

Destruction of the anthill

This method has proven its effectiveness - when a sweet mixture is prepared containing a slow-acting poison. They eat the treat themselves and carry it around in the anthill, where other insects are poisoned.

One of these recipes is to prepare boric acid with honey. You can use the commercially available Diazinon remedy for the same purposes. In this case, the poison acts for two days.

Folk remedies

Although the industry produces various effective means for this purpose, it is possible to fight ants with the help of various folk remedies:

1. One of the easiest ways to combat is using boiling water. Having found the place where the anthill is located and breaking it, you need to carefully pour boiling water over this place.
2. Another way is to loosen the area and sprinkle it with tobacco dust or lime.
3. Above the place under which the anthill is located, you can place, for example, the head of a smoked herring. A few chopped cloves of garlic, tomato tops, or chopped parsley leaves are also suitable for this.
4. You can fill the anthill using a decoction of tomato tops.
5. They do not like household acids.
6. Another similar method involves the use of a sheet of corrugated cardboard. It can be sprinkled with cinnamon, smeared with soot and placed on the ground where the ants live.
7. To use this method, you must first prepare the appropriate solution. It should include some cheap shampoo, two glasses of vegetable oil, a little vinegar, dissolve them in ten liters of water. Then, where the anthill is located, it is necessary to punch a vertical hole to its entire depth and pour the prepared mixture there. The place will need to be covered with foil for several days.
8. It is believed that if you pour abundant millet in places where these insects accumulate, this will force them to leave their habitat.

The options considered here are effective ways to combat these insects, but they will not give a full 100% guarantee for trees and shrubs.

Prevention

In order not to meet the need to take decisive measures to destroy ants in your area, you need to regularly do the following:

1. Look through the leaves of plants and, if found, destroy aphids. To do this, it is enough to spray the leaves with a special agent.
2. Dig the earth regularly to a depth of at least 10 cm.
3. Prune old and diseased tree branches of plants.
4. Do not leave boards and pieces of paper on the site, regularly look under the stones, checking for the possible presence of ants.
5. You can plant odorous plants around the perimeter of the summer cottage. It can be lavender or garlic.
6. Ants can destroy a pear or other fruit tree by settling in a hollow or in a crack in the trunk. It is necessary to inspect this kind of place.

These and other similar preventive measures will significantly reduce the likelihood of ants appearing on the site.

When killing ants, the most important thing is to find the place where the anthill is. Sometimes it can be determined by monitoring the activity of the ants. This will help get rid of them for a long time. However, it is better to closely monitor the condition of the site and, at the first alarm signal, take the necessary measures to cleanse the ants.