Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Fan-tail Palm with black sooty stuff, 1 by kimotherapy

kimotherapy wrote:
We have a glorious fan-tail palm about 15 feet tall in our living room. We purchased it from a local nursery a few months ago to replace one that was dripping that honeydew stuff all over our sofa after a terrible ant summer. It was a sad day -- my husband had that palm for years. I don't know much about palms but from what I read the palm aphid leaves a black sooty fungus (or is it palm aphid poop?) that attracts ants or other bugs, which somehow turn the stuff into honeydew?? I know this isn't a great image but can anyone tell me if that is what is on this particular stalk of our palm (or if that is normal for a fan-tail palm) and what we should do about it? I would like to keep the palm healthy and avoid attracting ants into my home.