I had a massive problem with red ants year before last at the allotment....all but two of the plants were 'riddled' with ants and the potatoes had little tunnels running criss cross all thru them - they were totally useless!
Asked everywhere for advice - but no-one seemed to have ever heard of ants actually 'inside' the potato!....eventually I dug the lot up - dug out a trench - liberally filled with ant-powder and back filled with the soil - hard work in hot dry conditions and left well alone for months :(
Eventually, I rang into my local radio station when they had one of their 'gardening buff' chappies giving out advice on all sorts of problems....I was furious when he laughed and told me.....'You'd be be better off nipping down to your nearest supermarket and buying a bag of potatoes'.....I'm sure he said this because I'm female, have an allotment and had persevered!....
Because I insisted on asking him again tho why it had happened.....he said - the problem was originally 'baby slugs' which get into the potato early in the growing season, riddle the potatoes with holes etc. then the ants come along and 'make their homes' there!....he said another year, if I wanted to try again....to use a slug nematode on the soil first.
Well I didn't, and I had lovely potatoes last year and am hoping to have some good ones this year - going to dig my first in the next day or two!
Not sure about ants in containers tho....have two containers with potatoes in but not 'delved' into them yet.
H.P.
