schomburgkia orchid Ant infestation

[Shirleyq]

Ants have made nest in hallow canes on my orchid. Are the ants killing my orchid? Is it supposed to be hallow?

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

These orchids are adapted to having ants live inside the pseudobulbs. That's how they all are in nature. Most people don't want that in their collection so they do something to get rid of the ants.

The name of many of these has been changed from Schomburgkia to Myrmecophila. The new name means "ant lover."

[SG in CR]

In my experience, the orchids that are oftentimes found with ants in nature benefit fromm their presence. So if the ants aren't causing any problems, the orchid would be better off with them there.
I know a Coryanthes grower that actually feeds the ants to promote the formation of daughter colonies.

[Jinh]

The information that estacion and SG replied with is interesting.

My own personal anecdote, one of my windowsill plants kept getting aphids. (This wasn’t an orchid) I couldn’t figure out how this one indoor plant kept getting them and I would treat it, then a few weeks later it would get them again. No other plant in my house had them.

I did a little research and I noticed this plant was always covered in little ants. According to what I found, ants and aphids have a symbiotic relationship and the ants will carry them around and deposit them on plants. The aphids will then cause the release of the honeydew by feeding on the plant and the ants will also get to enjoy it.

So now, based off my own personal experience and the information provided from estacion and SG, I don’t know. I guess I’ll have to go down a rabbit hole and investigate this further.

[SG in CR]

Originally Posted by Jinh

According to what I found, ants and aphids have a symbiotic relationship and the ants will carry them around and deposit them on plants.

Some ants do "farm" aphids. I just got rid of some that were maintaining a population of scale insects on a Prosthechea. Not all ants do though. If you notice that they do, I'd get rid of them. Many orchids will produce their own honeydew on developing flower buds to keep the aggressive little buggers on the tender growth to keep other insects away.