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View Full Version : Need help, is this ant infestation on a guava tree?


Want Them All
06-28-2010, 01:04 AM
My Dad has a guava tree that has been giving fruits every year. That looks to be in jeopardy as lots of the leaves have what appear to be ants and their eggs. I'm not sure that those eggs are ant eggs or the ants are there just to eat some other bug's eggs. Please let me know what you think, and how to eliminate them. My Dad already cut off a bunch of leaves that are infected.

Thanks,
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Nicolas Naranja
06-28-2010, 08:15 AM
Ants are tending the aphids(plant lice) on your guava tree. The ants will eat the honeydew that the aphids produce and defend the aphids from predation

sunfish
06-28-2010, 08:23 AM
http://www.bananas.org/f310/spider-mite-primer-11125.html#post121634

This will work

coast crab
06-28-2010, 04:38 PM
Nicolas is right. Not an ant infestation but an aphid infestation. Kill the aphids and the ants will go away too - or die with the aphids. No need to remove branches or leaves, it's a easy fix.

Russell

Jack Daw
06-28-2010, 06:10 PM
Starve the ant colony as soon as possible and they will relocate. Otherwise you may start looking forward to a very long and tiresome fight. I haven't tried the above mentioned methods, but surely will. In my climate, these are the worst enemy and I haven't really found an effective way of eliminating them. :(

Nicolas Naranja
06-28-2010, 07:29 PM
Because of the ants you can pretty much give up hope for regular biological controls, you can hit them with soap and if that doesn't work you can try an insecticide. Something with the active ingredient Bifenthrin would work well, If you can find the orginal Orthene with the active ingredient Acephate, it works well also. You might want to release some ladybugs if aphids are a consistent problem in your yard.