Why does a line of ants kills a line of grass? Each ...

There are thousands of ants in a colony. The traffic alone can indeed do damage however ants also eat grass seeds, and roots, near their mound and very probably on the way to their mound.

If you have ever seen a public bronze sculpture that has been touched by tourists...touching cannot impact the bronze, but with thousands of people touching the same place repeatedly, the surface color is usually rubbed off and shining! This is exactly the same thing happening with your busy colony. They created a trail.

Look to the Terminix site and/or other more organic solutions for your solution. Also calling your local Cooperative Extension will get you to people familiar with the type of ant you are dealing with.

Wish I had better news!

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B.Shap

I don't feel that alive grass can be compared to a statue of metal that is slowly worn down by touch. Touch on a metal surface would wear away tiny bits of the surface of metal with each touch.
Are you suggesting that one ant can do a tiny bit of damage to the roots by walking in it? That their weight is sufficiant for that? It does't strike me that one ant can be heavy enough to damage the roots underneath. Also your further thought that the ants might be cutting the grass doesn't explain the line of dead grass either as cutting grass clearly doesn't kill it (lawn mowers do this all the time). (The ants aren't digging up the roots) My only idea is that the ants walking on the roots might be actually damaging the new shoots of grass as they attempt to emerge from the roots. Or that the vibration of the ants walking on the roots might be affecting the cells in the grass that the new shoots are emerging from. I was hoping to find an actual answer not just a generalized thing like you wrote out.

No, I was not suggesting that one ant can damage roots by walking on grass. Ants eat, I repeat, eat roots of grass as well as seed. This is fact not conjecture. I am sorry you were not happy with my response.

Please relist so another expert can give your question another try.



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B.Shap

The ants aren't digging up the roots or eating the roots. They are walking over the grass to further locations and carrying back bits of leaves from a nearby bush over the line of dead grass. This can be clearly seen. They just aren't eating the roots. I have spent time watching them.

I've read several times that ants don't eat roots (or leaves or bits of bread) anyway. They actually grow fungus on the bits of stuff they carry back to their holes and harvest the fungus. Thank you for trying. I may try again with someone else.

The damage can be caused by the tunneling the ants do in the soil.

The following sites provides information on types of ants found in lawns and it also provides type of damage & how to control:

http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extpubs/plantsci/landscap/e904-2.htm

http://www.ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/ants_in_lawns.htm

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Hi, None of the explanations you have provided or are in these links are applicable to the situation I have. First, I'm not worried about lawn damage or looking for a way to treat my lawn or get rid of the ants. I became interested in the very long line of marching ants (maybe 60' long) that has killed a very tiny (maybe one inch wide) strip of grass ONLY where they are marching in a very winding path. The links you supplied talk about damage to the lawn near the nest or damage to the lawn from their underground tunnels or killing roots whatever. This kind of damage would be around the nest or in irregular patches on the lawn whereever grass roots were effected. That is not what I'm seeing.
      It is totally beyond belief that the ants have somehow magically followed below ground their marching path above ground EXACTLY for 60 winding feet and somehow killed the grass from underground in only a 1" wide 60' long strip...instead of in clumps of grass. This is just not believable. Somehow the ants are killing the grass while or as they walk on it by the thousands in a single-file, VERY active line that goes for all daylight hours. Nothing else makes sense. We just wondered how in our park. Maybe noone out there knows the answer to this but please don't try to tell me the ants are doing this from underground.    Maybe it's time to try a different person or just give up.
     Our own thought in our park is that maybe thousands and thousands of ants walking over and over all day long on the same parts of the grass clump that new shoots come from is enough to prevent those cells from sprouting new grass at just that exact place. Thus the ants haven't actually killed the grass but just prevented new shoots from growing. This could account for the very narrow and very long strip exactly where they are walking and no where else.
Rebekah

I am very sorry as the answers provided weren't of any enlightening for you. When I suggested the "thousands" of ants in my first reply to your question you rebuffed it. As a scientist with a degree in a biological science I can only think that you are calling for an answer by a scientist who has done research on this phenomenon. Indeed, with all the watching you've been doing you may be able to write up and publish your findings!

You yourself have answered the question after reading our responses. I only hope, in some way, this has led you to your conclusions.

Respectfully,

Barbara Shapiro

You are never obligated in any way to "accept" our answers.




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B.Shap

Hi there,   I didn't "rebuff" your thousands of ants idea. It was clear that thousands of ants were indeed involved. I became frustrated because you didn't give any theory about how thousands of ants could be doing this except to tell me they were eating the grass or killing the roots which was plain to see they weren't.

I was still looking for HOW do thousands of ants manage to kill the grass in such a long thin line just by walking alone. By what exact means. Our theory that by the impact and vibration of constant walking, they are affecting the very cells where grass sprouts from it's roots is our only working theory. This dead line of grass only appeared after our entire brown lawn sprouted green again from watering.   

I think this theory could be tested out to see if I can find a newly formed long line of ants walking under already sprouted grass to see if they also over time kill a thin line of grass. If they don't, then it would seem that only newly sprouting grass can be killed in this way which would strengthen our theory.

I know you've spent a lot of time on this even though you didn't come up with an answer. So I'll happily accept your last answer so you get paid. Thank you for your time.

Rebekah