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Southern Gardening

weird ants

19 years ago

well, i finally discovered what was chopping off the tops of my cosmos....ants! no, not leafcutters. I don't know what kind these are. They are not after aphids - there aren't any - they are actually digging their tunnels INTO THE STEMS!!!!! I have some doing this on sunflowers and squash as well. Who are these horrible beings? What do I do to stop them?

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Comment (1)

jeff_al
19 years ago
might be carpenter ants. they will tunnel into cavities and dead limbs of trees and i have read they will actually invade wood in homes.
perhaps the cosmos stems are woody enough to attract them?
do a search for these and you may find some type of treatment.
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