Thank you for sharing this :) It was quite interesting, to see
.... when/how did they learn this "farming", I wonder...hmmm

Tsheets:

Yeah. I posed the question of ants being a "beneficial" or not in the pest forum and they insist they're a beneficial.

I'm not so convinced -- if they protect aphids and whitelflies from ladybugs and lacewings, then I deem them an enemy of mine. What use is it to create an insectary and/or purchase beneficials if they can't do their job because there's a "bully" in the garden?

Cool video.

Kevin

I blast the ants off my plants and flood them out when they inhabit the pots.

Josh

ants can and do help with pollination but very minutely. They dont have the pollen attracting follicles that insects like bees do and they are not particularly attracted to the blooms as are bees and other insects. So, their role in pollination is very minute. they might account for one pepper per plant per season. Not worth the downside probably.
Bruce

I think it is misleading to talk about ants like they are all the same. It is a very, very large family with a diverse set of behaviors that can be found in individual species of ants. So some can be beneficial, or certainly neutral, while others are outright pests. If they are farming aphids, I do all I can to get them gone. Otherwise I tend to leave them alone.

Interesting factoid, young queen ants leaving a nest to go start their own colonies will often take a small aphid from home with them to start their new life. Cool video (what I saw of it).

I don't want them nesting in my pots or anything, but, overall, ants aren't a problem. if they start congregating like that, though, you know something's up!

I've had aphids be a problem mostly indoors-no ants.
The aphids I see outside are not a problem.
Between aphid wasps,ant lions(lacewing larva),lady bug larva and mantis.They aren't a problen.I seldome see aphids outside.
MITES are another story.

Did you know that when things get tough for ants to farm aphids on plant leaves they bring the aphids underground and put them on roots.
Only the sugar eating ants farm aphids for the stuff they poop out,for lack of a better word.

Some ants actually eat any soft bodied bug they can find,some are meat eating hunters.