I've been having a major problem with aphids on my milkweeds and some ants too and black sooty mildew which is caused by the aphids sticky juices etc. yuck!

But the aphids don't harm the larvae and eggs while those @#$% ants do.

Normally I don't have ant problems on my milkweeds, just those darn oleander aphids. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen an ant on my milkweeds. But, in one part of my garden, I have a 2yo A. syriaca, which the ants are just walking all over the leaves. I think there's a nest in that bed. Mind you, there's NO aphids on this plant. No oleanders, no blacks, no greens, nada. I can't figure it out, but they're not harming anything, so I'll leave them be...

I would just keep trying to dround them to encourage them to leave. They really don't like their nest being messed with. That's what I have done with the ones in my bed.

I had a problem with ants killing newly hatched Monarch cats in my pop up outside. I had a number of container grown milkweed plants and had those in the enclosure but couldn't keep the ants out. I took everything inside, minus the ants and all was well.
Karyn

I don't know what to do about the ants. They are all over my fairly large crop of common Milkweed plants. I see lots of monarchs and eggs, but rarely anh caterpillars. If I do see any cats, they are gone in a day or two. Any suggestions?

has anyone solved the ant problem??

I have swarms of ants on my milkweeds this year. And swarms of aphids (which the ants love - my telltale sign to check for aphids under leaves. I’ve removed aphids by hand, hosed down the plant, used coffee grounds…they love it here. My monarchs come by to lay eggs but I’ve only seen one. Ants eating them I guess.