Red Ants

[thaipod]

Have 1 rai on the river in Bangkok which has been left for many years without much care and now want to maintain the fruit trees ,but the place has thousands of red ants that attack us when we visit. I've sprayed insecicide and ant baits but not much affect Can anyone give me a organic remedy as I don't like chemicals

[dumball]

The only effective method I have found to get rid of ants is by using ant chalk sold in most 7/11 stores , I carry it with me where ever I go . You have a much larger problem than just a house or apartment on your hands , you could try putting a ring of it on the bark low down on a few trees and see what happens , the ants carry it back to the nest so it wipes all of them out , believe me they are gone where ever I have used the chalk in a matter of minutes .

Good luck in your quest against 'The killer ant hordes'

[Gary A]

Have 1 rai on the river in Bangkok which has been left for many years without much care and now want to maintain the fruit trees ,but the place has thousands of red ants that attack us when we visit. I've sprayed insecicide and ant baits but not much affect Can anyone give me a organic remedy as I don't like chemicals

If you are talking about the large leaf weaver ants that have a painful bite, look in the trees to find their nests. The ant eggs are considered a delicacy and the Thais will get upset when you destroy the nests. I tell my wife that if they don't bite me, I would happily leave them alone. Unfortunately they DO bite me and I go on revenge missions searching for their tree nests. A long bamboo pole destroys the nests. That's the way I control them. I destroy every nest I see. At this point we have very few of the little monsters and that's the way I like it.

[Saiyan]

I am no expert and was told by a guy that owns some property in the west of Thailand where I stay and he said that the fruit in Bangkok has become scarce and expensive. He said that the reason for this was because in and around Bangkok they had killed all the red ants and the fruits were no longer protected by them and were spoilt long before they could reach the market. How true this story is and weather it holds any water or not, I don’t know.

I have millions of the large red ants that weave the leaves in the fruit trees that we have and as long as they stay there, I’m quite happy. They don’t come into the house so I have not had to kill any because of that. I do however squeeze the life out of those that bite me. I have gone on a killing spree when I’ve cut the grass around the fruit trees with the tractor and accidentally dislodged a nest and ended up with thousands of them all over my body. This leads to jumping off the tractor and doing the Makerina dance and after a few minutes I’m back on the tractor cutting grass.

[gosompoi]

Thai eat the eggs of these ants and destroy the nests, put a sign up in Thai free red ant eggs.

[KarenBravo]

I read an article in a magazine about these red ants being introduced to fruit orchards.

These ants protect the trees from insects that would feed on it. The farmers, in the article, had strung small ropes between the trees so that the ants could get around without having to come down to the ground, which they prefer.

Seems like you should be happy to have these vigilant defenders of your trees.

[Gary A]

I read an article in a magazine about these red ants being introduced to fruit orchards.

These ants protect the trees from insects that would feed on it. The farmers, in the article, had strung small ropes between the trees so that the ants could get around without having to come down to the ground, which they prefer.

Seems like you should be happy to have these vigilant defenders of your trees.

That's a mixed benefit, They also farm aphids and protect them. If you have the bad luck to walk around a tree that has a nest, you will have many of them attack you and their bite is painful because of the acid they put in the bite.

I tried making peace with them by letting the nests in certain trees alone but no luck. The quickly spread all over.

[thaipod]

I consider them to be a pest also known as fire ants their bite is very painful they get me everytime and when they latch on to you you have to kill them to remove them . I had some workers who were barefooted removing some coconut trees and old wornout mangos full of nests who were barefooted ,they did'nt seem to be bothered . They told me that you have to spray their nests in the upper parts of the trees then remove the nests .

I think I will try the chalk first ,but not sure if it works on larger ants.

Also another question. Ant mounds at the base of trees ,I wanted to remove them and have been told by my workers you cannot .some superstition/badluck .My wife said get somebody else to do it ,don't do it myself.

[GarryP]

The ants manking their nests in the fruit trees are not fire ants, they are weaver ants. If you were bitten (stung) by fire ants you would know about it. The red ants in the trees have a painful bite but it is not at all long lasting. The eggs also make excellent fishing bait.

Edited October 8, 2009 by GarryP

[KarenBravo]

They are not Fire ants, but, a type of Weaver ant.

[billd766]

It is the little red barstids that sting me the most

Usually when I am out with my kruang tatya or strimmer and I find a few as I cut under the trees.

While I am too old to dance the macarena I do a passable foot stomp dance.

The weaver ants tend not to sting me if I can brush them off first but they did catch my wife out once.

That hurt twice, once because I was laughing so much and the second time when she clumped me for laughing so much.

[toptuan]

I have gone on a killing spree when I’ve cut the grass around the fruit trees with the tractor and accidentally dislodged a nest and ended up with thousands of them all over my body. This leads to jumping off the tractor and doing the Makerina dance and after a few minutes I’m back on the tractor cutting grass.[/size][/font]

I love your word pictures!

On my way home on my motorcycle, I go under a mango tree which is periodically infested with these leaf weaver ants. When they fall on me, try doing the Macarena on a moving motorcycle! Yeah, it's ugly.

Edited October 8, 2009 by toptuan

[Krungbin]

Have 1 rai on the river in Bangkok which has been left for many years without much care and now want to maintain the fruit trees ,but the place has thousands of red ants that attack us when we visit. I've sprayed insecicide and ant baits but not much affect Can anyone give me a organic remedy as I don't like chemicals

Mixed feelings...

Some eat them in "yam", and their eggs too, others hate them !

But, as some say, they protect your trees and fruits as well!

Up to you to decide what you really want to do...

If you want to "confine" them to the trees, simply spray (generously)chalk and/or yellow sulphur at the bottom of your trees...

Either they will stay on that tree, or they will go elsewhere...

[drtreelove]

Have 1 rai on the river in Bangkok which has been left for many years without much care and now want to maintain the fruit trees ,but the place has thousands of red ants that attack us when we visit. I've sprayed insecicide and ant baits but not much affect Can anyone give me a organic remedy as I don't like chemicals

I dug up this information on weaver ants and boric acid bait.

Weaver ants are a fascinating insect. First be sure that you want to kill them, they are a beneficial insect for certain crops as others posters have pointed out. Look at the section in the Wikipedia article on positive and negative interactions with crop plants. I have mixed feelings as a tree worker, I have to control them before we can work in the trees; dancing the macarena takes on a different twist when you're off the ground.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weaver_ant

http://www.infobridge.org/asp/documents/3547.pdf

http://www.oisat.org/control_methods/natural_enemies/predators/weaver_ant.html

http://www.livingwithbugs.com/ant_bait.html

http://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/resources/antbait267.shtml

From some other TV threads:

krod boric

กรดบอริก

"I got some boric acid from an Opthamologist in Chiangmai. My daughter had a sty and he prescribed the Boric acid."

"I can't help with BKK, but here in Chiang Mai you can buy it cheaply in half kilo tubs from the small chemical supply shop on Suthep Road pretty much directly opposite the teaching hospital (on the left if you are heading up Suthep Road away from the moat)."

"BTW I make my own ant killer using Boric acid and it is amazingly effective - I've gone from inundated to NO ants inside my home. Love it!

The recipe I have used can be found at http://quantumrelativity.calsci.com/Recipes/AntDeath.html and has worked great for me. Their advice of simply leaving puddles on the floor for ants instead of using containers seems to work well for me: getting much easier uptake by the ants."

Edited October 12, 2009 by drtreelove

[waddy]

I think this is what you are talking about there at the side of our front gate.

yours waddy

[drtreelove]

I think this is what you are talking about there at the side of our front gate.

yours waddy

Oh man now you did it with that picture, I'm going to have nightmares. I just got over it from knocking a nest out of a tree the other day and getting swarmed before I could get out of the way. It's hard to think of them as beneficial when they hurt ya. And just think, those workers are the females; vicious little critters.