Carpenter ants in my plants.

[Kevin_PR]

While I am relatively unfamiliar with species of ants, I have seen small black ants, which I believe are called carpenter ants in my some of my pots and mounts. They can be seen scattering with pupae in mouth when I water the plant or move it. I have had them crawl up my arm(probably close to 100) when I did not notice them right away and they do not bite. They are definitely not fire ants, which are in abundance here in PR and seem to be only terrestrial. I was wondering if they beneficial to the plants. I do believe they will contribute to the deterioration of the growing medium, but because of their feeding and excrements could it also be said that they will help fertilize the plant make the environment slightly more acidic and keep certain pests away from the plant?

There is also another species that likes to build small "structures" out of processed plant material(like termites). I sometimes find them at the base of leaves or in the crown where a new leaf is emerging. They seem to like aerangis that have the leaves closely space. Also they are never great in numbers probably 10 or 20. My concern with these guys is rot caused by the decaying plant material used by these critters. I usually brush them off when I see them so I have not experienced any rot yet. And all my plants are pest free without the use of any chemicals, save for snails.