Kitchen Garden Forum

Hello, this morning I was picking some blackcurrants and my hands were covered in these small black bugs, they were super fast and smaller than ants, I managed to squish a few but mostly just shook my hands and they fell off. I've had a quick look on line but all I get is beetles, again they could have been baby ants due to size and appearance but I don't think that's what they were. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Jan

I’m not sure what they would be, Jan…..sounds like a magnifying-glass job,

Blimey Jan,

Unsure what it could be as blackcurrants don't have too many small pests. I would say that they are likely to be something like ants if the fruit were ripe & if maybe a bird or something had a peck to release the juices & attract them. Most beetles would not be climbing over your hands but as ants make a scent trail to tell each other where to go they just follow that & if hands were in the way they will travel over them.

This intrigued me a bit so did a little search & there is a Black Garden Ant & a Little Black Ant! Maybe when you trim the currant back you might find evidence of a nest?

I had the bright idea of wrapping some double sided tape around my hand to catch a few but they weren't up yet, went back in the afternoon and they are small black ants, they were too fast to identify yesterday. Thank you all for the comments.
Jan

Morning Jan, a little off subject I know but, it’s so nice to have a new member posting things, so please keep it up, as we are desperate for new members to have some input….

not for submission anymore