Background

• The tasty vegetable originated in what geobotanists call the Abyssinian center of cultivated plants, an area that includes parts of present-day Eritrea, Ethiopia and the Sudan. From there it spread. It is believed to have been in use in Louisiana in the early 1700s and was also in use as far north as Philadelphia in 1748, according to Aggie Horticulture. People usually put okra into soups or stews or cook it with other vegetables because okra is mucilaginous, or "gooey," as Aggie Horticulture puts it. Therefore, people usually do not enjoy eating okra by itself, except when it is battered and fried.
  
  

Garden Ants

• Ants have long been attracted to okra plants. Garden ants visit okra plants because they are attracted to other insects that are attracted to the plants. Aphids, mealybugs, whiteflies, sharpshooters and leafhoppers all secrete a sticky substance called honeydew and that attracts ants. So when you see garden ants on your okra it is a signal that you have a problem with another insect that you need to address, according to the Missouri Botanical Garden. If you only see garden ants, the ants themselves will not hurt the okra plant, according to Aggie Horticulture. However, fire ants are another matter.
  
  

Fire Ants

• Although garden ants do not hurt okra plants fire ants do. Fire ants seek out flower nectar and damage okra plants by feeding on the flowers or base of blooms before they bud open, which stops the budding, according to the University of Arkansas. That causes the okra plant to stop producing. In addition, fire ants are attracted to the same insects that attract garden ants. The presence of fire ants on an okra plant poses a risk to an unsuspecting gardener who runs the risk of being bitten while harvesting okra.
  
  

Eliminating Ants

• Regular garden ants leave the okra alone when you get rid of the insect pests that attract them. Although fire ants might leave the okra plants under the same circumstances, it is not good to have fire ants anywhere in the garden or yard. Fire ants will sting if someone accidentally steps on their mound in the yard. Fire ants rarely build mounds in tilled garden areas where they would be disturbed. The fire ants usually travel to the garden from a nearby mound elsewhere in the yard. To get rid of fire ants control them in the lawn with a granular fire ant bait, according to Mississippi State University.