I am not sure what this flowering plant is called. Perhaps a cerithe, but I could be mixing it up with a plant close to it. Regardless, it is covered in tiny ants. Not one of the plants close to this one have any ants at all. Is this natural on this particular type of plant? Or is it an infestation and I should do something quick ?? If so, what? And... of course, could you please tell me what type of plant this is? The name tag disappeared this winter and I didn't properly catalogue it in my picture album. Silly me. Thanks, in advance, for your thoughts.
sorry, don't know what the plant is. as for the ants, they generally don't do any damage, so i wouldn't worry too much. i would check to see if there are a bunch of aphids near where the ants congregate...if so, then the ants are farming them and THAT will turn into an issue because the aphids will cause damage. if there is an excessive amount of aphids, you can use the hose to squirt the plant and dislodge the bugs. some will probably come back, so, you'll need to check each day for a few days and repeat the blast of water until they're no longer returning.
Thanks for the ideas. I looked to see if I could see aphids and didn't. Also, no aphids in the surrounding area.. so.. ?? weird... I dunno. It is just that there are sooooooooo many ants... all congregating together, in bunches. Very interesting.
some aphids are clear in color and can be hard to see... also, if the ants are all congregating in one spot, then, they may be doing something - other than hanging out, that is. again with the hose - spray them away and look at the stems to see if there's any damage. most ants that live on plants are in the rainforests...still, i suppose there may be some similar situation in other parts of the world. there's always a lot of ants on peonies and they don't do any damage - could be the same thing with this plant. really sorry i don't know what it is...someone who does should be along sometime soon and then you can do some research about the ant issue - they may be completely harmless, whatever they're doing.
