Knitting! And lose out on all the creepy crawling,biting fun???
Ants are stealthy. They got me on the hand when I was checking for water depth under some mulch. Never saw it coming.
I wouldn't sweat the worm issue too much
decollate snails...don't know
tent caterpillars are GROSS!PJ

leaf rollers are more gross, lol
They hang all over the tree and drop on you and eat all of the leaves on the trees

The only time I see ant beds here is right before a rain.
Most of the time it is a surprise attack.
I think all ants bite/sting but you know instantly if it is a fireant.
Hate them

Susan here are some snail pics

Here is a link that might be useful: snails

Not all ants are fireants. Normal ants will bite you, but he will go solo. Fireants are gangbangers, they only attack in groups. They will all get into position and bite at once.

Fireants build mounds when it rains, and you can see their mounds around bricks and rock walls. I watch out for any finely sifted pile of earth. When the mound gets big, there will be a crust over it, so it looks deserted. Also, they do live in the roots of plants. I had a rose that "failed to thrive", so I dug it up and it was full of fire ants. Had to dunk it into a bucket with orange oil.

Worms on plants are bad. Worms in the ground - OK I've never had a tree eaten.

Caterpillars are probably bad, but I let them have a plant or two.

As for snails, it's been too dry here for a decade for them to be a worry. The water in this burg costs too much to have damp areas. Where do you have snails?

In every bed in the immediate back yard.
Even when it is dry, they are just deeper then. Some morning when I am out with the dogs, I have to watch where I step because they are going across the walk and it's not just a few
When I sent that article to my DD, she said I've probaly been blaming gophers and voles for what snails have been doing, lol

I've got a terrible snail problem. I'm fixin' to bait 'em. As for "beneficial" insects, they are kinda like "harmless" snakes. If they was harmless, they would be called chickens!
Jim

Hehehehe, well it looks like I have a bunch of chickens then, lol
I have never seen a slug is this yard but saw a leech tho after a hard rain out by a stock tank, lol

Jolana, a leech!?!?!? I deent know we even had leeches in these here parts. You could start your own doctoring service and bleed people.

I think fire ants have caverns full of more fireants underground, thats why they're so hard to get rid of. These fireant caverns are probably humungus and run all over Texas....kind of like Interstate Hiways, only underground with fireant cities & and lots of schools to teach them how to cover humans arms, hands and legs in seconds and do that lets all bite at the same time thing. I can't prove this, but it sounds good to me!

The Government imported Fire Ants, I don't know what for, but they sure keep us busy don't they. The US Government has given us Fire Ants and Kudzu. If you go back far enough, you might find they were responsible for crabgrass and stickers. Who said committees aren't the best way to deal with problems?

Too Funny!! Now I have to clean my monitor. Plants for All Seasons on 249 close to Louetta have Ladybugs in a little refrigerator...felt so sorry for them! The only critter I have a meeting with is one of those ugly green things that get on my Angel Trumpets. Tomatoe something...and when you put them into a baggie to prove to your DH that this thing really was on there, they melt in the bag after about 3 days....all that if left is their poop and some water. Gross!! I add a little diazanon or dursban into the mix when I fertilize. This keeps the ants and grubs away...fleas and ticks too. I don't like creepy crawlies or jumpie uppers. Esp ticks and grubs. Doesn't seem to effect the lizards (anoles) or grasshoppers, pill bugs, friendly worms or bees/butterflies/birds...so I guess I am ok.

Worms in a tree will de-foliate your tree, but as with most de-foliation, not much permanent damage done. Poke a hole in the nest if they have one, and the birds and wasps will have a banquet.

Leaf rollers and other such can be done in with BT, if you do it early. BT is only effective on young, small, worms.

Ants are just horrible, I don't know of any thing they do that is beneficial, except to help out the buzzards to clean up carrion. They can kill your plants like txgardenlady said, by mining the soil around the roots of your plants.

Worms in the ground are beneficial. Leave them alone.

My MIL used to get a gallon jar, (empty) and put all the snails she found in her flowerbeds when she started cleaning them. She would often get a whole gallon of the disgusting creatures. I think she just threw the jar and all away.

Some snails I know are good, and that is the long narrow snails. If they are round snails, they are dead at my house, but I leave those that look like a bullet.

Wasps and Mud Daubers are good at my house. The wasps eat all kind of nasty bugs, and the Mud Daubers eat spiders, Black Widows and Brown Recluse being the most delectable. They seal them up in their nests, for the baby MDs to eat later.

We KILL ants with a product called INTERCEPT. Now, they are selling it under a new name, but I don't know what it is. You put about a TBSP on the nest, stir a little and add a little water. It must make a gas, because the ants are all dead in about 5-10 minutes. Other things we tried just made them mad, or made them move. This is the only product we have ever used that actually WORKED! I would be careful if I had chickens roaming about, as they might want to eat this, and I don't know that it would be good for chickens or ducks, or whatever.

Janie

Janie...if you get the new name of that antkill product please post it. I would like to get some.

OOOH one of those green caterpillars came dropping out of the trees on me today! Gross! I relocated it to the mulberry across the alley, I hate them more than the bugs.

I take a stick and break open the bags with the worms in them, then the wasps fly in and eat up the caterpillars. I love wasps.

I pour boiling water on the fire ants, usually they find me first and then I'm pi$$ed off so boiling water is a good way to get even!

TX Parks and Wildlife had an article years ago on how to prepare the snails to eat. They are apparently the same type that the French are so fond of. I propose we send them all to France.
Tally HO!