In article ,
"Ron" writes:
| Nick Maclaren saud
|
| Snip . . . . the results were enough to debunk the theory that ants are
| always the primary cause of aphid infestations
|
| I did not say "always" but once is once too often.

Even if, for every time they increase the problem, they reduce
it five times?

No, I am NOT producing a purely theoretical example - that is
AS LIKELY a possibility as the converse, based on all of the
evidence that I have seen or heard of.

| I can fully believe that there is SOME effect, but all of the
| information I have is that it is negligible compared with other
| factors
|
| "SOME" ? nuf said there!

Possibly some effect in controlling aphid infestations. Now
what do you say?

| It is indicative that even the pesticide manufacturers do not
| provide anything for killing ants in commercial crops - this
| indicates to me that few scientists believe that this is significant
| effect.
|
| They are not in business to make insecticide to help people, they're in
| business to make money.

Precisely. If this was a significant cause, they would market some
products for killing ants. They don't.

And, up until the daemoniacal Thatcher largely destroyed it, there
was a lot of independent research done by the ARC/AFRC on crop
pests - INCLUDING aphids on broad beans and wheat. They never
regarded ants as an issue.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.