ants & beetles in corn

[higgledy]

My sweet corn has ants and these giant beetles sucking on the flowers. The stalks look yellowed. I suppose these parasites need to be controlled. What can I use to get rid of these bugs?

[BillHew]

Try garlic tea, it will take care of most beetles. If that doesn't work right away, use garlic/pepper tea. Last resort, because it actually kills the bugs and also kills beneficial insects is garlic/pepper tea with orange oil.

Make sure that the beetles are actually harm> My sweet corn has ants and these giant beetles sucking on the flowers.

[higgledy]

I looked more closely at my corn --they are loaded with aphids!

[e-mail] wrote:

[J.C.]

I have an ant invasion on my okra and I've tried everything I can think of. Garlic/Pepper tea, the Howard Garrett recipe, doesn't even phase them.

[George Shirley]

I've never seen okra harmed by ants, generally they're after aphids, and other tiny insects. We have them all the time and just tap the okra with a stick to dislodge them while we cut the pods. That's so we won't get bit.

George

[Harry Chickpea]

IIRC, ants sometimes "farm" aphids and other insects that create a sweet product the ants can eat. I wouldn't automatically view the ants as friends.