Although the Asian needle ants did kill more Argentine ants once they had claimed territory, the researchers wondered how the less numerous insects were gaining a leg—or six—up. Cold-tolerance tests in the lab hinted that Asian needle ants were better adapted to the temperate North Carolina climate than the tropical Argentine ants. The Asian needle ants shook off their winter sluggishness as early as March whereas the Argentine ants did not resume activities until late April or early May, the researchers reported on February 8 in PLoS ONE.
An Asian needle ant takeover would not only be bad news for Argentines but also native ants—and for humans as well. Their burning stings can induce a life-threatening allergic reaction in sensitive individuals. “More people are allergic to Asian ant stings than to honeybee stings,” Spicer Rice says.
The fierceness of the Argentines wouldn’t allow them to be pegged as pushovers and suggests that understanding how invasive species react to new climate is important to predict their spread. The Asian needle ant may be winning the war in North Carolina simply because the state is at the northern limit of the Argentine ants’ range, Spicer Rice says—or it could be poised to become the next threatening invasive species.
Another project led by N.C. State researchers could reveal if Asian needle ants are the next big ant threat. The project, School of Ants, asks citizen scientists to help catalogue the species in urban areas by sending in the insects they find. The researchers are particularly interested in the spread of the Asian needle ant and have discovered specimens from locations as widely separated as New York City and Washington State.
The first record of Asian needle ants in the U.S. dates from the 1930s in Louisiana, indicating the insect was probably a ship stowaway. Like the Argentine ant, the Asian needlers form colonies with thousands of workers and many queens, Pedersen says. Unlike other species that fly to new locations, invasive ants are able to mate within a single colony. As a result, a single cup of soil, perhaps stored with vegetables or flowers, can hold enough individuals to gain a foothold on a new continent.
Climate change, human movements and disrupted habitats offer new opportunities for invading ants, Pedersen says. “In general we will see more ant species being invasive, and here we already have a new member of the crew—the Asian needle ant,” he says.
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Add CommentTheir coming!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMaybe it's because i like the big battle scenes in movies such as federation vs klingon, empire vs rebels, spartans vs everyone else, but i am just wondering if there are any links to an actual argentine vs asian needle ant battle taking place.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHey! What´s "a handful of the more than 12,4000".
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWah, invasive? RAID kills bugs dead. And so does Tero.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIncredible!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBut surely the asian needle ant is not a saviour? Does it have similar impacts as the argentine ant on native species? i.e. can it coexist with native ants but prevent supercolonies of argentine ants forming?
I honestly think the statements about fire ants out competing native ant species is a completely UNproven statement that has been repeated so many times without anyone asking for proof that it has become accepted as true.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe reason I say this is I've lived where fire ants have been present for at least 50 years, and while yes they are nasty foul insects that I hate that seem to be everywhere SO TOO DO MANY OTHER TYPES OF ANTS that should not be there if the above statement were even partially true.
Tiny little black ants are everywhere for example.
What more likely has happened is the fire ant has taken over the obvious and visible niches in the environment from the native ants, but has NOT come anywhere near driving them out or exterminating them.
You can find about every type of ant around here that I found as a child with ONE exception and that is the giant Harvester ants.
Their disappearance locally however is NOT due to fire ants as much as it is due to this area getting significantly more rainfall over the last few decades.
Since this was the outer edge of their normal range, such a significant change meant it was no longer a good place to live for them.
Yet people blame the fire ants with no proof whatsoever.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn the 20 yrs on my property ants have changed 5 times with tiny black ones I call 70Deg ants as they don't come out until the temp is 70F have ruled the last 7 or so. But for 4 moths or so they just disappear.
Because of this they are unlikely to go much more north.
But they drove the fire ants out and if you don't have food hanging out they don't bother you.
When I was a kid, growing up in rural central Florida, we had no fire ants. My parents would take us for picknicks on the river bank, and we could play and eat without worrying over ants. When I returned after my military time, they were everywhere, and some people were dying from allergic reactions to their bites. I don't know if they completely wiped out any of the other species, but I can think of at least three which I have not seen in forty years. Hopefully they are holding out somewhere and (also hopefully) the fire ants will not follow me to the high NC mountains where I retired.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisJerryd, you can keep the fire ants, palmetto bugs(American roach), love bugs, mosquitoes, alligators, poisonous snakes, sand gnats, no-see-ums, numerous spiders, heat and humidity, etc, etc, ......
The only things I miss are citrus, guavas, mangoes, starfruit, and avocados in my yard.
You know what's the most invasive species in the world? Not ants, but human beings.
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