Ants keep busy, carrying, pushing, digging, and building.
In the wild, they create anthills of all sizes. The tallest anthill in Norway is over two metres high.
But what if they start digging and building in your garden? Most people wouldn’t be thrilled about ant trails right outside their patio door, would they?
Produce fertiliser and eat pests
"Ants in nature are good," says Arnstein Staverløkk. He is a researcher and senior engineer at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA).
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Arnstein Staverløkk has written a book about ants in Norway.(Photo: NINA)
They eat and digest nutrients and produce organic acids that break down the soil so that plants can grow.
Ants also eat other pests like insects, spiders, and snails. In turn, they are eaten by birds and other animals, keeping the food chain in balance.
Like bees, ants also act as pollinators, transferring pollen from one plant to another.
In short, they're an important part of nature's ecosystem.
But how important are they in our gardens?
Different types of gardens
"It depends on what kind of garden you have," says Staverløkk.
If you have a natural plot, they find their natural place just like in the forest, in moss, on stones, and in the trees.
If, however, you live in the city or in a residential area, it's a different matter.
"If you have well-kept flower beds or vegetables, ants might cause a bit of trouble," says Staverløkk.
When stones start to shift
Some ants make anthills, while others thrive underground. They dig tunnels, which changes the structure of the soil and can improve water absorption.
But those same tunnels can also cause paving stones and slabs to shift over time.
Some ants thrive underground, often under slabs in the garden. They change the structure of the soil, which can cause the stones to move and create bumps in the path.(Photo: Marte Dæhlen)
"The stones may sink, which can spoil the look of an otherwise neat outdoor space," says Staverløkk.
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And once ants have established a nest, it’s only a short step before they explore your home in search of food.
Milk and protect aphids
You might think that since ants eat pests, they would also keep aphids away.
But they don't.
Unlike ladybirds, which feed on aphids, ants actually like to 'milk' them.
Ants can help prevent fruit trees from getting sick.(Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB)
Aphids produce honeydew, a sugary liquid that ants love to eat.
"They like to herd the aphids and protect them so they don't get eaten," says Staverløkk.
Aphids can cause significant damage to garden plants. They can destroy new buds and shoots, and the leaves and flowers of existing plants can become both discoloured and deformed.
"But ants are predators too, so they eat other insects as well," says Staverløkk. "They help tidy up and keep some garden pests in check."
A study from Aarhus University found that ants secrete antibiotics that can inhibit certain diseases in plants – up to 14 different types.
This is why researchers believe having ants in the garden is a good thing.
Although Staverløkk isn’t familiar with the Danish study, he notes that it's well known that ants have glands on their backs that release antiseptic fluids to protect against fungi and microorganisms.
"We've also seen wood ants collect lumps of resin for their anthills, which have antifungal properties," he says.
This is how the ants work under the paving slabs in the garden.
The queen ant swarms
Staverløkk says that Norway has 65 native ant species.
The most common in Norwegian gardens are the black garden ant, also known as the common black ant, and the silky ant, which can appear in large numbers.
All ant colonies swarm during the summer, with new queens and males taking flight to mate and start new colonies.
The smaller workers remain behind to maintain the anthill and gather food for the new swarmers.
The black garden ant is the most common species in areas modified by humans, including gardens. It's also the species most frequently found indoors.(Photo: Arnstein Staverløkk)
Researching ants
Staverløkk has been involved in mapping Norway's ant species, heading into forests and fields to search in a range of habitats.
He and his colleagues turn over stones and break open twigs. Traps are also used to catch flying ants.
"We spent many years mapping ants because some species are rare and have a rather cryptic lifestyle. For example, the four-spotted odorous ant and the European Amazon ant are perhaps the biggest celebrity ant species we have in Norway. It was especially fun to find them!" says Staverløkk.
The result was the book Maur i Norge (Ants in Norway), published in 2018.
