Observation of ants
Jane McGary (Thu, 05 Aug 2010 09:42:35 PDT)

Pursuant to the recent discussion of whether ants are harmful to
bulbs, just now I lifted a pot of Colchicum alpinum and found that
tiny ants were living in it, with their larvae stashed between the
old and new tunics of the corms. The corms had come to no harm (can't
say the same for the ants). These little ants, an exterminator once
told me, live on moist rotting wood and other vegetable matter (they
were in a sill under a badly designed window wall). I wonder if those
in the colchicums were actually benefiting the plants by removing the
rotting old leaf bases.

Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA