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Ants and flies on aspen trees

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From: Shirlee Berman City: Chicago , IL
Hello, I have noticed what seem to be house flies all over my quaking aspen trees. Upon further inspection there are also ants at the base and up and down the trunk of one of them. It’s accompanied by a lot of fly activity in the yard and I believe this isn’t the source. Any idea on the root cause of the problem and what I can do to eradicate it? It’s very embarrassing to have all these flies in the yard!
	Extension Message From: Richard Hentschel Extension Educator, Horticulture DuPage/Kane/Kendall Unit hentsche@illinois.edu
Ants and flies will be attracted to a food source usually, though ants can be found on nearly all trees at some point in the growing season. if they are in abundance, perhaps another sap feeding insect has supplied them an easy meal. look for aphids or scale insects, both produce and exudate rich in nutrition for ants and flys.
From: Shirlee Berman City: Chicago, IL
Update: Turns out there was an aphid infestation. I am now having the trees treated and the problem seems to have gone away!
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