AusBonsai

Hi everyone I'm just trying to find out what is causing the ant problem in my ficus. Trying to work out if it is pests causing it or the ants just like my tree.
also I have found some little fast moving bugs on my tree, the are white to pale green in colour about 1mm to 3mm and look a bit like this. sorry for the very poor drawing.

Hi Meff,

Ficus are prone to scale, and the ants on your tree are a good indication that they may be present.
Get yourself a spray pack bottle of Pest Oil - most good nurseries will have it.

Lightly spray your tree, pay particular attention to the under side of your foliage.

Keep the tree away from full sun for a week or so whilst applying the Pest Oil.
Cheers,
Leigh.

There is nothing on the foliage that I can see. I was more worried about the trunk and branches. No idea what the little bugs might be?

Sorry meff - it is really hard to make anything out of the pics and I would have to check my books to find something that would look like your drawing.


anyone else?

by the drawing i was thinking maybe thrips but the leaves dont show this and the size of the bug is to small i presume, it could be green aphid which would explain the ants.


jamie

Well the tree seems to be in pretty good shape. The pics I've found of aphids don't look anythind like the bugs on the tree so I'm not sure if it is them or not. I guess I might have to treat it just to be sure.

Give it a light spray of Confidor - it is systemic - anything that is sucking or chewing on your tree will cark it !!

Ants usually mean scale or aphids. If you can't see aphids on the tips it is probably scale. Scale can be hard to see until it is quite advanced. The ants have been busy on my citrus and figs for months and I've just now found the scale starting to become visible. Typically scale will be on or near the leaf rib, usually close to the petiole (leaf stem) and/ or on the bark of the smaller twigs. They will start smaller than pin head size and get bigger - up to match head size. Usually start out very pale brown, almost translucent but get darker as they get bigger and older. Mostly an infested tree will not show any problem unless it is very poor anyway .
Pest oil or white oil deals with scale well, probably confidor too but I haven't used this on scale. Soapy water can control it too but need to apply regularly to keep control.

I would say that the drawing is almost definitely a thrip. (Photo included) That's not to say you don't have aphids and scale either. It is not uncommon for these bugs to co-exist. I very recently treated a group of Viburnum Tinus shrubs that were absolutely infested with them along with mites and aphids. The tree/s were on their last legs but now they are coming back beautifully. My treatment however was different here due to the mites so I used a product called Natrasoap which was very effective.

Hope the photos help you to identify one of the culprits on your tree. I agree with Leigh though; Confidor should do the trick for most sap suckers. Just be diligent witht the treatment. Spray, give it a week, assess progress and apply treatment again. You may have to do this 3 or 4 times......just see how you go. Hope I have been of some help.

Thanks for the help everyone.

Thrips usaully attack the leaves on ficus though don't they? I just had to get rid of them from my little chinese banyan.

This tree seems to be a breeding ground for all types of bugs, I have just had an invasion of 3 different types of caterpillars

Well , basically , yes. Regardless of wheter it's a ficus, a Fukien Tea, or whatever, thrips, like aphids are sap suckers and it's basically the leaves that they are after. They basically attack the leaf , cell by cell to a point where the leaf is no longer capable of performing photosynthesis.

If your primary problem is ants, I would also be lifting the plant gently out of the pot to see if they are nesting there. In these warm months they could be starting new colonies.

this is what black scale look like, they come in a few different colours from black through to white to pinkish and brown.
this is black scale.
i think by the drawing you have shown they are thrips, have you got any problems with leaves? did any of them look deformed or damaged?

jamie

edit- what usually happens is when a tree is down on health it is an attration for bugs, if you have had three different catapillers, possibly scale, possibly aphids, those two are speculation from the ants, what i think is thrips, then i would say your tree is a bit unhealthy even though it looks ok, it might be down on a nutrient or something like that which could have started it all, looking at the pics again although i cant see the leaves close up are they new leaves or do they seem a bit yellow?

jamie

Jester, I guess I didn't really make my point clear, I don't think it has thrips, none of the leaves are showing any signs of problems except for the caterpillars, no closed leaves or anything like that.

I'm pretty sure that the ants have a decent colony in there. I was investigating today and disturbed them, they came swarming out carrying eggs. I'll have to lug it upstairs and sit it in the bath for awhile, it won't fit anywhere else.

Thanks

Do thrips change colour fom juvinile to adult? I'm going to treat it tomorrow.

I hope anyone who lives with you will understand your need to carry an ant colony through the house and drown it in the bath...