Ants residing in my bog.

[Halt]

I think that there is an ant colony in my bog.. :/ How? When I flooded the bog yesterday... what amazed me was... ant coming outta everywhere... i mean just swarms of them, and most of them carrying white stuff.. which i believe is to be the eggs. Another way I know.. The ants are going to my dog's food so theres like a trail of ants leaving the bog to the food and the ants are going in 2 directions. So do I need to repot, or just leave them there?

Bog:[^]

ants<----- [^] ----> ants

 

[Frilleon]

yup you are now a landlord for a colony of ants! You must not keep your bog flooded all the time. If you flood the bog everyday the ants should leave. You will have to keep it full of water for a while though otherwise they will keep coming back when the soil is dry enough.

 

[Halt]

I was planning on repotting this winter since i have too many weeds in my bog. :/ Any suggestions on how to catch the queen ?

 

[mcantrell]

Ant (forumgoer) might know.

 

[cp-connection]

I don't trust ants. They infest my plants with mealy bugs, aphids and scale.

 

[Ant]

Ants themselves are harmless (or beneficial) to most plants. The problem comes from the their farming habits. Mealy bugs sometimes are raised by ants like domesticated animals and the ants "milk" them for sugar and some times eat them for protein. Depending on the species it could go either way.

Do you have a picture of the bog? Getting the queen(s) shouldn't be hard if they are in a pot. Simply take a very large container (like a large plastic storage container and pull the mix out slowly and picking up eggs and workers as you find them. (put paper towel in the holding container so they do not need to walk on top of each other) If you want to keep them, make their future home first.

 

[theyellowdart]

I've read they protect aphids because they eat the sugary residue that comes off of them.