Can ants hurt plants?

Ants like to make holes in the soil, so there will be many holes in the pot soil, like a hornet's nest, which will cause the roots of plants to be exposed to the air and gradually dry up. Moreover, the roots of plants are damaged, and they are prone to water shortage and poor growth.

Ants have both advantages and disadvantages in dealing with insects, that is, they will eat most of the insects on nearby plants. In fact, potted plants are only prone to aphids, scale insects and whiteflies in most cases. At the same time, they like to "breed" aphids to get honey dew secreted by aphids, and they will carry young aphids around to breed, leading to the spread of aphids.

Extended data:

The habits of ants

1. Formicidae are social insects and have a strong love for nests. Most species nest underground or in trees, mainly including female ants, male ants and worker ants. Generally, an ant nest is a family, and there are one or dozens of queens (female ants) in a nest, with the largest number of worker ants, who are responsible for nesting, foraging, rearing and so on. The main function of male ants is to mate with female ants and die after mating.

2. Formicidae can grow normally in the temperature range of 15-40℃, with the optimum temperature of 25-30℃, soil humidity of 10%-20% and air relative humidity of 70%-90%; When the temperature is lower than 10℃ in winter, they will enter the cave, but they will not hibernate, just stop frequent activities and eat food stored in autumn.

3. The feeding habits of Formicidae are complex, and the lower species are carnivorous, feeding on insects, small animals and even dead animals; Higher ones are carnivorous and phytophagous, and can feed on plant substances such as animals and plants, seeds and fungi, especially the "honey dew" secreted by aphids and scale insects; Other species are omnivorous, mostly feeding on seeds, fruits and insects.

4. Ants communicate through the smell of secretions. If an ant finds food, it will leave a smell on the way home, and other ants will look for food along this route and constantly strengthen the smell; If an ant is crushed, it will give off a strong smell, which will immediately alert other ants, and they are all in an attack state.

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