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RE: Wasp Invaders Repulsed by Aphid-Farming Ants as The White Rose Loses Colour
I am currently trying to deal with scale insect ant farm which had been a little too productive for my poor orange tree. The problem with the ants being on guard is that nothing can get in to deal with them.
For standard aphids we seem to have more luck with the aphid wasps dealing with them. I guess that your wasp was more likely there for the nectar the aphids were producing though! Some amazing photos there.
Thanks MSH :) .....makes sense that the wasp should be there for the nectar too (esp. if it gets them high - just my fancy of course :), what a fascinating relationship! Is that the orange tree you were going to fence off before letting the hens in? Will the hens not eat the ants? I remember as a kid in India watching lines of ants carrying stuff - grains of rice, sugar, insect bodies etc - through the house. The lines could extend across the entire room/house, and I'd follow them to where they disappeared through a crack or hole in the wall. There were the bigger ants too, with a sharp bite, and ones that sprouted wings in the rainy season! The scary insects for me are the big cockroaches, thankfully none in Scotland!
Yes that's the tree. Hopefully it's all ready for fencing now, just need to find time to do it with Shaun (RTB). Unfortunately, the chickens won't eat the ants, however, they will eat the tree leaves! Hence the need to fence it. The quail will eat ants though. Ladybirds have a better time in their run.
Shaun's not impress with the roaches and bugs we get here! They creep him out. Our biggest ants, bull ants, are about an inch long and they not only bite, they have a stinger! One of my daughters found out the hard way when one crawled up her trouser leg. Ants are fascinating to watch though.
Yeah, I'd be very wary of getting up close to littlelife Down Unda - have heard there are lots and lots of little stingers about, red spiders, box jellyfish and whatnot :D and massive roaches that can fly too? - saw them in French Polynesia .... I had a look at an image of a bull ant - what jaws! I remember hearing about the African Driver Ants when I was a kid, and how they are blind and will eat their way through whatever is in the way of their army, be it house or flesh or crop (or pest :). Wonder if the ants are just too aggressive for the hens coz I remember seeing a documentary from the macro perspective, where these GIANT hens were eating them by the hundreds. But yours eat the orange tree leaves instead huh...oh those chickens!!!
I don't think they like the taste. Occasionally chicks will eat them in their search for protein. They will eat the tiny pharoah ants, so I wonder if it's the formic acid they don't like. The chooks go crazy over greenery, because they don't have enough of it, being in static runs (bringing them some daily obviously isn't enough). They aren't supposed to like citrus leaves, but they do!
Funnily enough somebody was taking about the flying roaches the other day. Somewhere they used to live was plagued with big ones and when they started flying and the ceiling fans were on, you'd have to duck! I think it was in the tropical areas thankfully.
Hmm right, of course, Scotland is extremely green with lots of (too much) water and so prob. very different from S.Aus :). We used to have three chickens at work (old folks' home) which would run about the garden and I've seen them devour slugs. Management eventually got rid of them coz they 'ruined' the garden and 'made a mess' :( ... I was very fond of the Misses Pink, Yellow, Red (as per the colours of their 'rings', and as per the pecking order lol) and loved tending to them.
That's sad that they felt they ruined the garden. Perhaps they should have had bantams instead. They are much gentler on gardens, especially the feather footed ones. Silkies and pekins are usually popular back yard free rangers.
They've been talking of bringing in rabbits lol. While I'd LOVE that, I can't see it being more than talk. The chicken house is still there, sitting empty. The oldies for the most part enjoyed the hens, shame animals are not standard in such places - a live-in cat or dog would make such a massive difference to the quality of life of the residents. But then the residents are 3rd in the list of priorities, after the shareholders and the 'customers' (ie their families). I take Shanti in sometimes on my days off - she's great with them and they love her ...the three chickens were rehoused with a colleague who lived on a farm and she said that they integrated nicely with the flock and became wild :)