Killer ants!

Fortunately these ants don't kill people, but they sure are killing off the plants in my garden.  I have written several times about those "cute" leaf-cutter ants which are able to carry huge pieces of leaves in their mouths.  Well, they're not so cute when they strip bare my green peppers and string beans.  Here is a photo of their work.  This used to be a leafy, vibrant plant with lots of peppers.  Now it's ready to be ripped out to make way for a new plant.

We got some close-up pictures of these creatures from another Peace Corps volunteer in a different province.  You can see that these guys have huge jaws, and they know how to use them!

I realize now that when they carry off their chunks of leaf they hold them in their jaws, which are obviously well suited to the task.  

Here they are dismantling a large leaf.  Note how perfectly circular their cuts are.

Here is another picture of one just about to start his cut.

Where are these guys coming from?  I didn't have to look further than the empty lot next door.  There is a huge colony of them there.  I have been using their dirt to make my mud brick stoves for quite a while now.  It is finely ground up and mixes very easily.   Here you can see how many anthills they have made.  I took out seven five gallon buckets of their dirt the other day and didn't even use half of what was there.  Fortunately they don't mind - the dirt is just the excavation from their homes.  They don't attack humans, either.  

My problem now, of course, is how to protect my plants without resorting to poisoning the ants and the environment.  My neighbors mostly use ant poison, or else they pour gasoline down one hole and light the vapors which come up through another hole.  I have found out that there is one plant which produces leaves that repel them.  I have planted several, and hope that that works.  Fortunately the leaf cutters don't like tomatoes or eggplants, which have been growing well.

Our tomatoes came in well, as did our beans before the ants discovered them!

We couldn't end without including this photo of Isidro and his younger brother Kevin on Isidro's bike.  Our town handed out free bikes a few months ago to needy kids.  Isidro chose to get a little bike instead of an adult one, and he fixed it up with all the bells and whistles.  He is very proud of his air horn.  He took an old fire extinguisher tank and connected it to two horns.  He then pumped the tank full of air with a hand pump.  When he hits the valve on the fire extinguisher, it sounds just like a Mack truck!  

His sign reads "Dios es amor" (God is love)

Steve and Heather