I was moving the plants out of the way so that we could remove a an old broken section of the wall when I noticed this:

![sad aloe.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmQeYXdYTgjm6yfeyiSLPPVs5gGfqjbZoR8KWCFo9M4zYQ/sad%20aloe.jpg)

Completely shrunken leaves and the plant loose in the pot, meaning that the roots were all gone. There's only one possible conclusion to draw from that - root mealiebugs, a particular type of aphid that are farmed by ants. The ants tunnel into the soil and carry the bugs to the roots because they collect the honeydew exuded by the aphids as they suck on the roots.

![mealiebugs.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmP5H7ZYiKBaLEmCqU3jmuTW3U6QG6PoCXHoCH4jJjisCy/mealiebugs.jpg)
_Huge and fat and not much left of the roots...._

But this aloe is far from dead and has started making new roots so all is not lost.

![root.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmNixjkzHSEgKJXgGNFfiJMqYGkZcQ6xMsTZSUWfNG8exH/root.jpg)

I removed all the large aphids and sprayed the roots with mercaptathion and repotted the aloe in soil with fresh compost and a dose of imidaclodaprid granules. It is a systemic insecticide so any aphids that hatch out to suck on the roots will die and that should curb the population. It's autumn so I expect to aloe to recover quickly, it's amazing how quickly they bounce back once the sap-suckers are gone from their roots.

First posted [here](https://main.weku.io/community-deals/@nikv/autumn-ant-maintenance) on my blog in WeKu