I noticed a tiny trail of small black ants by the backdoor and realized they were heading for my brugs! I plucked off a leaf(the ants were concentrating on older growth) and noticed tiny off white specs.. With bare eyes, you don't see much, I got out a 4x magnifying glass and it wasn't much better. I have 1 of the lighted 30x handheld "microscopes" from Radioshack I bought just for this reason. I can now see clear oval shaped bugs or old bug skin after molting. They remind me of spidermites except I couldn't find anything moving. The plants don't seem to show and damage that I noticed with spidermites. The ants automatically make me think aphids, I thought aphids were easy to see w/ the naked eye.
I'm at a loss for the moment, I'll start narrowing the field tonight. I thought to post it here thinking 1 of you would know exactly what I was looking at. Any ideas?
Jeff
ANTS ON MY PLANTS! INDOORS
Check your pots. The ants may be nesting in the soil in your pots. I had that happen a couple of years ago.
I don't know what you might have on the leaves. The ants go after honeydeew secreted by other insects.
Jeff, I had the same thing in the greenhouse. The ants picked on a couple of the brugs, but I couldn't see anything on them except a white fly or two. I wondered if the white flies were leaving something on the leaves that the ants liked. Since I don't like ants, I put some ant poison out and didn't see a single ant today. Then I sprayed for everything else and hopefully they will all stay away.
Hmmm I found out what the critters are on the underside of the leaves. I don't know what the terminology exactly but they are white fly eggs or larvae or cacoons. The ants must be feeding on them and they must put out I heck of strong fermone to attract ants into my home. The plants were just moved to that spot 2 days ago and I saw ants today. I've now seen 4 adult whiteflies too:). Since it's still too cold for outdoor's, I need to figure out the exact life cycle of these pests. I know of a predator wasp that specializes in eating these pests but there a so few flies and the plants are 5 ft. from my bed. These plants need full sun badly. They can usually fight off attacks from white flies in the summer here....Hmmmmmmmmmmm
insectisidail soap spray. I have them in the green house and its just not brugs they attack. I dont have my two remaining brugs in the green house but they are all over my erythinia ( coral bean plant) . i think its the secretions they put out that attract the ants. either way its yicky.