Whiteflies are a sucking insect that excrete a sticky, sweet honeydew substance, much like aphids, scale and mealy bugs. And that's what the ants are after. Get rid of the whiteflies and you will get rid of the ants....or they will move on elsewhere :-)

We had a terrible infestation of white flies on our ficus trees. I can offer what worked well for us. The nursery suggested a couple things. One was spraying with this "Eight" insect control and/or using worn castings mixed in the soil. At first I used both but have found that the worm castings and just spraying the leaves with water work well.

Are these house plants? If so, move them outside into the shade and that will often take care of the whiteflies. I have never successfully conquered them with insecticides.

Need2SeeGreen, you can check online for lots of info regarding the worm castings and white flies.

There haven't been scientific studies on the use of worm castings to repel whiteflies, but every gardener I know who uses worm castings says they are very effective. Eight contains pyrethrins, which is probably overkill for whiteflies.

"...move them outside into the shade and that will often take care of the whiteflies."

Our whitefly problems were all with outside potted ficus in shade.

As I mentioned, the worm castings and just spraying with plain water are pretty much what I use now.