# Striped ass ant **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 6, 2004, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/striped-ass-ant/248912 "2004-06-06T04:49:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2004, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/striped-ass-ant/248912/1 "2004-06-06T04:49:34Z")
I saw some trumpet vine today, Trumpis radicans, with ants going after the nectar. There was an ant with a striped abdomen. We called them “honey dew” ants when I was a kid. What are they? ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/striped-ass-ant/248912/2 "2004-06-07T17:03:43Z")
Many ants are aphid farmers. That is, they store aphid eggs underground in winter, and they carry the aphids up into plants in the spring to suck on plant juices. Now, aphid poo is a clear, syrupy stuff, and ants live on it. So the ants scurry up and down like little milk trucks, collecting aphid poo (called honeydew) and taking it back to the nest. Try googling carpenter ants, and look at the pictures. Some carpenter ants have a striped abdominal section, and that may be what you’re seeing. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/striped-ass-ant/248912/3 "2004-06-07T18:03:04Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > Try googling carpenter ants Thanks, I believe that’s it. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/striped-ass-ant/248912/4 "2004-06-07T18:03:27Z")
> [@](#): > > I saw some trumpet vine today, Trumpis radicans… Unless you were joking, this should be _Campsis radicans_, family Bignoniaceae. As for the ant, depending on size and coloration, my first guess was [velvet ant](http://www.sdnhm.org/fieldguide/inverts/dasymutilla.html). Note that they feed on nectar, and that they don’t bite, they sting (they’re actuallywingless wasps, and man, do the little bastards hurt.) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/striped-ass-ant/248912/5 "2004-06-07T18:06:29Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > _Campsis radicans_ Man, I love looking stupid. ☹ Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/striped-ass-ant/248912/6 "2004-06-07T18:13:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Man, I love looking stupid. > Thanks! ☹ Totally not my intention. Sorry! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/striped-ass-ant/248912/7 "2004-06-07T19:00:08Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Totally not my intention. Far better to make the error in a post to the SD rather than to another gardening person! 🙂