Ants eating 30 year old Fern Tree

[Dot]

My friends have a really tall Fern Tree (not positive about the name) has shiny green leaves. While pruning it today, my friend found HUNDREDS of black ants eating the tree, there are white spots on the tree and when you peel them back, it's FULL of ants! The tree looks healthy enough, any ideas about this?

[lquade]

probably has aphids (white) and the ants are eating them. easiest and cheapest is soap. mix some dawn with water and spray. you can add a bit of cooking oil so it sticks for a bit longer. you can also use a good force spray from a garden hose to wash off the aphids before you spray with the soap. you will have to redo a lot with all the rain.. you can win, sounds like an easy one.

[Dot]

hmmm, but the ants are inside the bark, underneath the white/lichen looking spots on the tree. It looks like they are actually eating the inside of the tree, ick.

[leilaniguy]

Are they black, white or red? Slow or fast? Bite or sting?

[Dot]

Ants are black, a tiny bit bigger than the sugar ants. Crazy winter, sooty mold and hungry ants!

[SoCal_to_Hawaii]

The recipe I use for aphids (and fungus): for a small batch is 1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, a squirt of liquid soap, 1 cup of water in a little spray bottle. My thought is to try this first on everything since it is non-toxic and if it doesn't workthen I move to more nasty measures.

[eigoya]

I have something like this with little fire ants "inside" a palm tree. Took a branch down and it was covered, as well as the tree. Thought of burning, chopping and soaking, but would like to keep tree. So much rain haven't put ou bait, though.