Do Black Ants Hurt Plants?

Ants can be harmful to plants.

Ants come in thousands of varieties. Most can be harmful to plants depending on the geography of the ants and the plants. The type of ant and its proximity to a food source such as sap or the location of its nest can put plants of all kinds at risk.

Garden Damage

Ants found in flower and vegetable gardens can be damaging to the plants growing there. Ants' nesting habits involve underground tunnels. They will chew through roots indiscriminately, including carrots, to build their tunnels, damaging or killing the plants.

Leaf-cutting Ants

Leaf-cutting (Atta cephalotes) ants cut sections of leaves and carry them back to their nests where they use them to cultivate fungi that they eat. Nests can be large, more than 1 million strong. The colony is capable of defoliating a rain forest or crop lands over night.

Red Ants

Red ants, sometimes known as fire ants, are omnivorous, meaning they eat plants and animals. A red ant nest can mean your plants are in danger.

References

• Colorado State University Extension: Ants and Landscape Plants
• Marine Biological Laboratory: Of Ants and Plants
• San Francisco State University: The Biogeography of Leaf-Cutter Ants
• North Dakota State University: Questions on Ants

Resources

• University of Alaska Fairbanks: Terrible Tree-Killer Ants