We have seen ants moving on the mango trees. Some of the ant species can damage the trees when they are searching for food or shelter.
How To Get Rid Of Ants On Mango Tree? You can get rid of ants on mango trees by spreading cornmeal and cucumber or lemon peels, growing lavender plants, and using strong baits. In addition, sprinkle repelling powder, wrap sticky material, and spread toxic powders.
Trees need care, maintenance, and protection from plant pests because their juicy fruits and pleasant aroma can attract these pests.
How do you get rid of ants on mango trees?
Different natural and chemical methods are there to treat nuisance insects because ants can cause significant harm to fruits and trees.
Sprinkle cornmeal
Cornmeal can kill ants and destroy their colonies completely when you sprinkle the powder directly on their mounds or colonies after mixing it with a poisonous substance.
It can effectively kill queens when the workers consume the cornmeal and pass it down to their colony. It can cause digestion problems when they drink water after its consumption.
Accordingly, the cornmeal powder begins to swell in the stomach and causes issues in the digestion of food, which leads to death due to the toxicity of poison.
Spread cucumber or lemon peels
Cucumber peels have repelling properties against insects, so it is better to keep them aside for use while dealing with the ant population on mango trees.
Grate the peels into small sizes and spread them around the tree’s perimeter to create a boundary for insects. Slices of cucumbers with peels can also be used, but it is not a permanent solution.
You need a large number of peels to spread around the trunk base, which seems an expensive option. It can be a temporary solution to stop ants from damaging the fruit and tree.
You can also use lemon peel to reduce infestation risk as they do not like citric odor. It is better to look for a permanent solution because cucumber or lemon peels are not effective for long.
Grow lavender plant
Lavender is a versatile aromatic plant with a pleasant odor, but insects avoid strong odors. It can become a suitable repellent against ants due to its pungent smell that interferes with pheromone trails.
Accordingly, you can grow a lavender plant close to mango trees, keeping these damaging pests away from the plant for a long time.
This sweet-smelling herb contains linalool, which can irritate the insect’s smell receptors. They prefer to stay away from strong scents that can mask their body odors.
Moreover, it is widely used in insecticidal sprays and repellents to keep your plants safe from the attack of ants.
Wrap the sticky material
They cannot maintain balance on sticky material as their feet are also sticky and can adhere to such surfaces. So, you can wrap tree trunks in a sticky material to create a barrier for them.
Wrap a double-sided tape in the middle of the trunk and get rid of these insects for a short time. In the same way, you can also use duct tape to capture them.
It is better to replace the sticky material when it loses its property to grab crossing ants because tapes lose their stickiness over time due to exposure to air elements.
Furthermore, you have to wrap a new tape around the trunk region every 2 to 4 days to make it an effective barrier for avoiding ants.
Spray pressurized water
Spraying water on the leaves and trunk region under high pressure can help remove a large number of plant pests because their tiny bodies cannot resist the high pressure of water.
Use a garden hose to get rid of aphids hidden under the leaves that can help remove ants because these ants usually come for sap-sucking insects on mango trees.
Use strong baits
Baiting is considered an effective method to control the population of insects as it can provide long-term benefits. Sweet baits act in two ways: they attract and kill pests due to toxicity.
Homemade or commercial baits are almost equally effective, so you can try cost-effective options and make sugar baits at home. Mix sugar with toxic substances like boric acid to make bait.
Spread the mixture on multiple cardboard pieces and put them at a distance of 2 to 3 feet around the mango tree. It takes some time to attract insects, so you have to be patient.
The workers take the bait back to the colony and feed their fellows. Boric acid causes digestion problems in ants and leads to death within a day or two.
Sprinkle repellents
You can prepare a repelling solution using natural ingredients that have strong odors. The strong scent of essential oils, like peppermint or rosemary oil, can keep these pests away from mangoes.
Take almost 2 to 3 liters of water in a bucket and add a few drops of peppermint oil to it. Almost 20 to 25 drops are enough in 2 liters of water.
You can also mix rosemary oil in it or prepare a separate solution by mixing around 20 drops in 2 liters of water. Spray this solution on the leaves and other areas of the tree to spread its aroma.
Ants will not come to trees until the odor of peppermint remains there, so you have to keep spraying the solution until you find a permanent solution to infestation.
In addition, you can use repellents in powder form, as cinnamon powder or chili powder can keep them at a distance for a long.
Call an ant exterminator
Hiring professional exterminators is considered a good option if natural methods of repelling and killing ants do not work and you still see insects crawling everywhere.
These professionals use chemical methods and spray deadly insecticidal chemicals on the mango tree.
Moreover, some killing sprays affect their nervous system as the active ingredients bind with their neuron receptors and cause disturbances in their functioning.
Why would you get rid of ants on mango trees?
Many species of ants are known to be plant pests as they can cause direct damage to plants by chewing their leaves and sucking juice from fruits.
Ripe mangoes are a good source of nutrition for these insects looking for natural sugars. They can provide a high content of potassium, magnesium, and healthy vitamins to these insects.
Accordingly, ants can cause damage to fruits by sucking the juice, which does not remain edible for human consumption. They can also infest rotting wood of trees to make tunnels or chambers.
An increasing population of these insects within rotting branches of trees or holes in the trunk can cause damage to fruit and other parts.
However, a few are indirect pests that promote aphids for honeydew that are sap-sucking pests and are responsible for mold growth on leaves.
Accordingly, black patches appear on the leaves due to black mold, which can cause cosmetic damage and affect the rate of photosynthesis in leaves.
What type of ants can attack mango trees?
Many ant species are herbivores that prefer to consume plant-based food and reach trees to get nutrition. They get food from leaves, fruits, seeds, and nectar in floral buds.
These herbivore species can also attack mango trees to obtain nutritious fruit juice. Red ant infestation is commonly seen on these trees, which are omnivorous.
Red imported fire ants consume honeydew for nutrition in addition to insects and arthropods. They are pretty dangerous ants known for their deadly stings and cause potential harm to crops.
In addition, carpenter ants can attack trees if the wood is rotting or infested with other pathogenic organisms. These can also get attracted to honeydew and can reach for aphids.
Wood-chewing ants can affect the stability by chewing the bark and trunk region if they find a hole to live there. Leafcutter ants can also reach there for leaves to grow fungi for nutrition.
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