Ants are social insects that live in organised nests that contain many hundreds and sometimes thousands of ants.   Most are wingless sterile females, known as workers, but there will also be fertile females, known as queen ants, and males.   More than 30 species of ant are found in Britain.   They do little direct damage to plants, except by disturbing soil around plant roots and depositing it on the surface during their nest building activities. This can be a nuisance on lawns and where low-growing plants are being buried by excavated soil.   They may also disturb plant roots in pots and containers.   To make a real impression on ant numbers it would be necessary to destroy the nests rather than just the foraging ants.   That is difficult to achieve as ant nests occupy a much larger volume of soil than the surface excavations might suggest. Repotting is the only real solution, washing the roots clear.

An ant collecting honeydew from aphid infected plant