This thread is fascinating reading. Thank you for posting the various steps and products you've tried.
I don't think I have crazy ants, but this year the yard is covered with some kind of small non-biting ants that are small, black, and they travel both in lines and running around every which way. They are going to aphids on plants that are struggling. Watering correctly (so the plants aren't stressed) is part of the remedy, but I also have a method of swabbing of some of my plants with a sponge thing meant for washing dishes. I mix up a gallon of water with some Murphy Oil soap (I'll eventually exhaust my supply, it was the first soap I used in the garden) and orange oil (a couple of tablespoons of each) and I've added spinosad occasionally. I do that every week or two (instead of spraying it on, though I need to switch over to spray because it's faster). I do it this way so I can get a close look at the plants and can use this mechanical method to actually knock off or kill aphids and ants.
I also regularly puff diatomaceous earth around each plant. Between grasshoppers and ants the flowers were being literally eaten off of my crops. I'm finally getting some eggplants now. I'm coaxing along the okra (I planted them late, by seed) and will use the sprayer on those.
I've researched sticky traps, but I fear I'd trap some of my small toads and lizards if I tried them. I see lots of them around these ant-covered plants so I know they're growing up on a specialized ant diet. If I can work out a screen around a sticky tape that would let ants through but keep out the reptiles, I'll try it. These would be in the garden and might hang from some shepherd's crooks I use in the garden. I've just given myself a design idea, I'll post a photo if it works.
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