Re: Ants

Hello Jim,
    The northwestern horticultural industry has been equally affected by the
pests that have struck the CA horticultural industry.  European brown snails
and thrips have moved north on infected CA nursery stock in great numbers
over the past three decades I have been in business.
    Many concerned small nusery owners tried to get our WA State Dept of
Agriculture aware of the SOD problem developing in CA four years ago.   We
were told not to worry that SOD would never be a problem for us and the
large growers would "police themselves".  Unfortunately we were correct in
our concerns and now we have been impacted by additonal regulations even if
we do not grow any of the Appendix I or II SOD carriers.
    The only fern listed on the last update from WA State had Dryopteris
arguta on the Appendix II list.  Do you know if any of the other ferns in CA
have been tested and what their status is?  If there is any information
about the testing on Dryopteris arguta I would be most interested in that.
Please reply to Judith@fancyfronds.com.
Judith I. Jones
----- Original Message -----
From: "James Downer" <ajdowner@ucdavis.edu>
To: <ferns@hort.net>
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2005 10:29 AM
Subject: RE: [ferns] Ants


> This is not a debate over Ideologies.  We receive a new insect pest in
> California every three months.  Many of them quite damaging.  IT really
does
> cost us in CA millions in crop loss.  Betsy I would not have responded to
> the net if the posting I read had explained as you just did.  You are
> certainly off the hook.  But everyone who collects and imports plants
(some
> do it on the sly) needs to be aware of the tremendous potential for harm.
> Sudden Oak death and the glassy winged sharpshooter have caused California
> growers to lose hundreds of millions of dollars and that is all from just
> two pests.  We are constantly assaulted with new homopterans (scale,
> whiteflies, psyllids, meallybugs etc.) while at the same time we are
losing
> chemical controls due to environmental restrictions and insect resistance.
> The biorational pesticides are great but sometimes they are not enough.
>
> JIM
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-ferns@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On Behalf Of
Betsy
> Feuerstein
> Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2005 10:14 AM
> To: ferns@hort.net
> Subject: Re: [ferns] Ants
>
>
> You know, I even brought this to the attention of the inspectors at
> Miami Ag and they checked the specie and decided it was already here and
> was not a problem so I feel well covered on that one. We could become
> isolationists and that seems to be what we are becoming but in the
> process we lose so much potential for the new potentials in plants from
> medicine, to horticulture, to hobbyists. I am well aware that there is a
> worldwide debate over such idealologies.
> Betsy
>
> James Downer wrote:
>
> >Betsy this is really bad.  This is how exotic pests enter the United
> >States and cause literally Billions of dollars of damage.  We really
> >need to be careful when bringing new species of insects into the US,
> >even ants.
> >
> >Jim Downer
> >University of California
> >Cooperative Extension
> >
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: owner-ferns@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On Behalf Of
> >Betsy Feuerstein
> >Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2005 5:26 PM
> >To: ferns@hort.net
> >Subject: Re: [ferns] Ants
> >
> >
> >Reggie and the group,
> >
> >I have a similar story with solanopteris in Ecuador where I tried to
> >drown them to no avail. I was covered in stinging ants so finally I
> >bagged them up tightly and you can guess the rest......... they were
> >still there. I gambled and got them home and the ants were still there
> >when I got home.
> >
> >Betsy
> >
> >Regferns@aol.com wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >>Many of the Lecanopteris species are also homes for ants.  Ants are
> >>also
> >>attracted to plants with nectaries, such as many of the Aglaomorpha
> >>
> >>
> >species,
> >
> >
> >>particularly Photinopteris speciosum (now Aglaomorpha speciosa).
> >>
> >>
> >Interesting
> >
> >
> >>timing with the talk of Solanopteris brunei (the Potato Fern).   Last
> >>
> >>
> >evening,
> >
> >
> >>Robbin Moran spoke in Miami to the Tropical Fern & Exotic  Plant
> >>Society.
> >>
> >>
> >This
> >
> >
> >>morning around the breakfast table we were discussing  Solanopteris.
> >>This
> >>discussion was prompted by the fact that a couple  of years ago while in
> >>
> >>
> >Borneo,
> >
> >
> >>we bought several specimens of Platycerium  ridleyi.  The plants were
> >>infested with stinging black ants.  After  almost 1 hour of trying to
> >>
> >>
> >dislodge the
> >
> >
> >>ants from the plants (with  lots of water), ants were still coming
> >>out.  We
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> >>noticed that there were  numerous chambers, nooks and crannies in the
> >>base
> >>
> >>
> >fronds,
> >
> >
> >>and the ants had  thoroughly and efficiently colonized these plants.
> >>Some
> >>observers have  surmised that there is a symbiotic relationship between
> the
> >>
> >>
> >ants
> >
> >
> >>and Platycerium ridleyi. The ants do come out in force to defend their
> >>home.
> >>
> >>Reggie  Whitehead
> >>Tropical Fern & Exotic Plant  Society
> >>
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> >>
> >
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