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Mealybugs only tend to be serious pests in the presence of ants because the ants protect them from predators and parasites. [2] Mealybugs are also a vector of viruses in grapevines, spreading grapevine leafroll and grapevine red blotch viruses. [3] Mealybugs also infest some species of carnivorous plant such as Sarracenia (pitcher plants
[8]: 299 The ants and the mealybug have a pre-existing mutualistic relationship and so provide them with a refuge. [8]: 299 In their next work Mgocheki & Addison 2010 find that managing the ants did indeed lead to increased parasitism on the mealybug and decreased crop injury. [8]: 299
Ants may collect, or "milk", honeydew directly from aphids and other honeydew producers, which benefit from their presence due to their driving away predators such as lady beetles or parasitic wasps—see Crematogaster peringueyi. Animals and plants in a mutually symbiotic arrangement with ants are called Myrmecophiles.
Fungus-growing ants (tribe Attini) comprise all the known fungus-growing ant species participating in ant–fungus mutualism. They are known for cutting grasses and leaves, carrying them to their colonies' nests, and using them to grow fungus on which they later feed. Their farming habits typically have large effects on their surrounding ecosystem.
repel roaches, ants, the Japanese beetle, ticks, silverfish, lice, fleas, bedbugs, and root-knot nematodes [2] Citronella grass: repels insects, may deter cats [5] Clovers: repel aphids and wireworms [3] Common lantana: repels mosquitoes [1] Coriander: repels aphids, Colorado potato beetle, and spider mites [3] Cosmos: repel the corn earworm ...
Ants engage in associations with other honeydew-producing hemipterans, such as scale insects , mealybugs (Pseudococcidae), and treehoppers (Membracidae), and most of these interaction are facultative and opportunistic with some cases of obligate associations, such as hemipterans that are inquiline, meaning they can only survive inside ant nests ...
Discovered only in 2016, ant farming and agriculture with plants is a rapidly evolving field of discoveries. As of 2022, it is estimated that ants assist in the dispersal of seeds for over 11,000 plant species, are in mutualistic relationships with at least 700 plant species, and engage in purely agricultural processes with hundreds of others.
Argentine ants sometimes tend aphid, mealybug, and scale insect colonies, [49] sometimes relocating the parasites to unaffected plants, and their protection of these plant pests from predators and parasitoids can cause problems in agricultural areas. [50] In return for this protection, the ants benefit by feeding off an excretion known as ...