I have noticed the ants out back tending my orchids. The Encyclia Belizensis has a spike that has more branches and buds than I'd ever been able to grow and it has these tiny ants parading back and forth all the time. My Schomburgkia that has a developing spike is also groomed constantly by ants. The ones on my Schomburgkia are larger than the Encyclia ants too. At first I thought it would be a bad thing. But the plants with ants almost never have bugs on them and the buds are more numerous and healthier. Just my opinion...the ants do something for the plant overall. Maybe that is why when I sit a bug infested plant on the ground under a tree...the bugs mysteriously disappear. Hmm....