The ants I have are pharoh ants. They do not make nests in the ground as far as I know. They tend to nest in cracks and crevices of the greenhouse or actually live in potted plants. In following their trails, I really haven't come across what you described except for occasional aphids. In an effort to try and stop them all together, I have taken everything out of the gh and am repotting them in ant free soil. I spray the roots with water til there is none left and inspect for ants .. If i see any I dunk the whole plant into a insecticide/fugicide solution for about 2 minutes, then rinse off and pot. Along with the lavender oil treatment, I hope this keeps the populations down considerably this winter. I have a large colony of anoles living in my gh and they seem to take care of all the other nastys. I have also found that if you sprinkle some diazinon or dursban underneath pots that are outside, it keeps ants from getting into pots. Wish I had thought of this a lot earlier. X

I remember another such post someone asked a good way to get rid of fire ants.People were all writing in and of course the grits came up.An entomologist took the time to write a lengthy post about fireants and all the research they had done and how grits or all the organic tricks absolutely do not work and about 4 posts beyond his someone WHO HAD NOT READ his piece or probably the others wrote "OH I heard you just sprinkle Grits on them." I am sure he wanted to just scream!

As members of the bee/wasp order, some ants can sting. If it's a big black ant with mandibles, and you felt a pinch, that is a bite. I know of two species of little red ant that can sting. The Imported Fire Ant is red, about 1/8 inch long with a dark reddish-black tail. They build sloppy dirt mounds and when you disturb it, they swarm very fast. Fortunately they prefer the outdoors, and can't survive north of the freeze line. Their sting develops into white pustules. Amdro bait granules work well on these guys. The other ones as far as I can tell are called Little Fire Ants, and they are about 2mm long. They don't move as fast, and some folks confuse them with Sugar Ants or Pharaoh Ants but they are not. I've caught them stinging my arms while I am sitting at the breakfast table. Their sting is a red welt that stays itchy for a week or more. They are much bolder about coming indoors, and often nest in potted plants. Terro is good on these. It is a solution of sugar water and borax. Takes a couple of days for them to poison the colony but with patience you can get rid of them.

This is a recipe that was given by the head groundskeeper of the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It uses somewhat what Daisy referred to...only use boric acid....bought at any drugstore. To two cups (450 millilitres) of boiling water, add two teaspoons of boric acid, and two cups (450 grams) of granulated sugar. (I know how to measure metric...but I'm still not used to writing about it) Stir to dissolve sugar fully. Let cool. Then, into a small container....much like a margarine container, you put holes at the sides at the bottom to let the ants enter. Into the container you place about 6 cotton balls (also bought at the drugstore) after soaking them in the solution. Put the lid on to prevent other insects such as bees from entering. Then place the containers where you see the trails or mounds of ants. The idea is for the sugar to be the come-on...the boric acid the killer. The worker ant takes the liquid back to the nest and feeds it, like a good ant will, to Queenie.. she gets a terrible tummy ache....and the colony dies with her. Any pointed shoe can kill an ant in the corner...it takes a wise wearer to know how to kill hundreds without putting your foot down. Anyway, its supposed to work on the feared RED ANTS of southern U.S. so I cant see where an Ausie ant's stomach is any less upsetting. Now there are a few more suggestions and they are talked about widely whether they, in fact, work or not. Grits....that southern U.S. morning food.....tastes like bland cream of wheat... well, this stuff expands when moistened and figuring an ant's stomach has such acid, it suggests when an ant eats the grits, the stuff explodes inside its stomach. Another one....make the ant cross through some baking soda. He gets it on his feet (or whatever an ant calls his feet), some of it gets into his mouth...and the old story.... when baking soda gets wet it turns into carbon dioxide.... GAS that is....and since an ant cant burp, cant flatulate, he goes all to pieces. Anyway, that's the theory.