Since going organic last year, I've noticed that my yard attracts a lot more ants -- which I guess is a good thing, as they indicate more life in my soil. Problem is, I have a huge aversion to them. I hate them with a passion, ever since having my sleeping bag infested with them once as a kid while camping. So, how much damage am I doing (especially to the rest of my little bug friends) when I sprinkle diatomaceous earth over their swarming ant mounds? I only ever use it on/in the mounds, but I would imagine any little bug/worm that crosses that patch of powder is going to be affected.

Thanks!

I have an aversion to centipedes, but no horror stories about them. They just creep me out for some reason. I think it's all the legs. Moving. In waves.

Damage is minimal and I wouldn't worry about it. Any bug or worm that crosses the mound has a good chance of becoming dinner anyway, so if they succumb to the diatomaceous earth instead it's pretty much a wash. Plus, compared to the square footage you have, those mounds aren't much.

You can try a sugar or molasses spray if they're in a location that displeases you. It depends on the type of ant you have, but it might be worth a try and it's cheap--and no harm done to any other creature.

DE kills insects by making small scratches on their exoskeletens so they dry out. It won't harm microbes, earthworms or arachnids (spiders, mites, etc). It will also kill crustaceans such as pill bugs (roly polies) and lawn shrimp.

Just remember... The ants wouldn't be there if there wasn't plenty of food for them.....

Ants are hunters .. and an average size ant hill consumes a tremendous number of bugs..... When you have a healthy population of Ants -- it keeps Grass and Garden eating bugs in balance.....

And... What will happen to all those Grass and Garden eating bugs when the ants are gone?

Just something to think about before you go run them all off....

Thanks

John

That, too. It does depend on the ant--most of mine are happy eating the soy, and probably farm fungi as well. Some are hunters, some are vegetarian, a few are strictly vegan. Some are instrumental in decaying wood in the soil, but they're not as good as wood beetles (read: cockroaches) or termites in that regard.

But if you can't stand the things, you can't stand the things.

Can you tell what their destination is?

ants in the yard doing ant business fine.
ants in the house--NO!
Click here for more information

Dchall_San_Antonio wrote:Can you tell what their destination is?

As in, where they go/come from for food? I haven't been able to see a line of them heading anywhere specific. They are concentrated only around the base of my sickly Carpinus tree (in the tree well) that I've been very, very heavily feeding with alfalfa, SBM and corn meal for the last year in an effort to improve the soil and give any helping hand to the tree that I can. I have fed this area much more than the rest of the lawn, as I really wanted to save the tree if possible. Not sure if it is working, but the tree is still alive.

So, I would assume the ants are there because they like the buffet that is constantly available. They are not near the house, and they are small (nearly tiny) black ants. The most recent mound was right at the base of the trunk, so I wasn't sure if they would do any damage to the tree itself as well.

John_in_SC wrote:What will happen to all those Grass and Garden eating bugs when the ants are gone?
John

Yes, I was wondering about that too. I can live with the odd ant colony that seems to exist along the street curb, and hope those will be enough to keep other bug populations in check, if they are not the vegan variety . It's the crawling, swarming movement at the base of my tree that I can see out of my front window that just has to go.

Thanks for all the input!

see the post above about boric acid? mix up a few spoons of sugar and a spoon of boric acid in some warm water--ant killer syrup. put a spoon full in a lid from cottage cheese, yogurt container and place in the vicinity of the offending ants. keep this up untill there's no more customers.

Click here for more information

Oooh!!! Little toxic spots. I like it. Wait a minute. I hate it.

I get a question about that ancient boric acid article from the University of Minnesota about 3X a year. Remember, anything over 2 PPM of Boron in the soil is toxic to some plants. Almost all plants find 5 PPM toxic.

it's a spoonful of syrup in a plastic lid that's placed (and monitored) in a problem area.

I guess the other way to get rid of the ants in this story would be to hose down the area with the recently discussed Ortho BugBGon.

(if they aren't charging my stack of pancakes, I usually just let them be).

I've embraced ants ever since I was told that they are the termites number 1 predator.

Could you plant peonies and try and relocate the ants.