Do ants eat courgette leaves???

[Caro]

Hi everyone,

My courgettes look mainly fine and healthy, albeit with a little bit of mildew (I've duly read the advice on what to do about mildew). However, some of the leaves are getting eaten; holes are appearing randomly over the leaves.

In conjunction with this, I have noticed that many leaves seem to have an ant wandering about on it. I haven't yet caught the little blighters chomping on the leaves, but is it likely it is the ants causing the damage? If so, what can I do about them, as every anti-ant potion seems to be hugely poisonous and I wouldn't want it near my raised beds? (Also, I don't think it's slugs or snails - I have ringed my raised beds with copper tape and it seems to be working!)

I am concerned, as the first baby courgettes are just growing now and I'd hate for something else to eat them before I do

Many thanks,

Caro

[Lovage]

It's very unlikely that ants would eat the leaves, but they sometimes treat plants like fields where they 'farm' aphids.
The holes are more likely to be slugs or snails which are really enjoying this wet weather

[bluemoon]

As Lovage says, it's more likely that the ants are farming aphids. Basically they herd the aphids along the plant, protect them from attack by ladybirds and the like, in order to 'milk' them (drink a sugary residue which oozes from the aphids' bums )
If you've seen ants there's a good chance that they are protecting a colony of greenfly.

[rustylady]

If you've seen ants there's a good chance that they are protecting a colony of greenfly.

Greenfly won't do your plants any good, but they won't eat the leaves. Slugs and snails are sneaky little critturs - you need to get out there around dusk to catch them at it