How to recognize and combat ants on decorative garden and/or indoor plants

Ants are social insects belonging to the Formicidae family, widely distributed throughout the world. They live in hierarchically organized colonies that include one or more queens, sterile workers and, at certain times of the year, winged males. The queen is in charge of reproduction and can live for several years, while the workers are in charge of collecting food, defending the nest and caring for the young. Ants are born from eggs laid by the queen; From these larvae can emerge that, fed differently, will become workers, soldiers or future queens. The larvae pupate and eventually emerge as adults. At certain times, there are swarms of winged males and females that leave the nest to mate, after which the new queens look for suitable places to found colonies. Some species establish symbioses with aphids and scale insects, which they protect and transfer to new plants in exchange for honeydew, which aggravates their impact on crops and gardens.