Red imported fire ants with painful bites have taken hold in Europe.

Already a serious invasive species in the US and Australia, red imported fire ant nests have now been found in Sicily, Italy, and they could spread to other parts of Europe.

For people, red fire ant bites can be extremely painful due to their venom, which some people may even be allergic to.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2391471-red-imported-fire-ants-with-painful-bites-have-taken-hold-in-europe/

#Europe #Italy #Sicily #Ants #FireAnts #InvasiveSpecies #ClimateChange

Invasive species No 1 driver of biodiversity loss in Australia – and feral cats have biggest impact, report finds

"Australasia has been identified as a global hotspot for invasive species. In Australia, invasive species are the number one driver of biodiversity loss"

"Feral cats have the greatest environmental impact..."

"Australia has lost more native mammal species than any other continent, with more than 100 species listed as either extinct or extinct in the wild.'

“This report makes it clear that the Albanese government’s commitment to ‘no new extinctions’ will be no more than a slogan without increased focus and funding needed to prevent the next wave of invasive species."

“Invasive species are likely to be a primary driver of 85% of the next round of predicted vertebrate extinctions over the next 20 years"

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/04/invasive-species-no-1-driver-of-biodiversity-loss-in-australia-and-feral-cats-have-biggest-impact-report-finds
#NativeFlora #NativeFauna #biodiversity #FireAnts #pests #weeds #cats #pets #biosecurity #pathogens #trade #extinction makers

Are you bringing a pot plant from Queensland to NSW? You could be risking a million-dollar fine

"The NSW government is warning those convicted of breaking biosecurity controls could face enormous fines as it ramps up efforts to keep dangerous fire ants out of the state".

"The control order prevents high-risk materials such as mulch, woodchip, soil, compost, sand, gravel, baled hay, and turf being moved from within a five-kilometre radius of a site where fire ants were found unless inspected and issued with a certificate by the Queensland Agriculture Department."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-16/two-million-dollar-fire-ant-fines-nsw-invasion-fight-ramps-up/102737340
#pests #NSW #biosecurity #FireAnts #PotPlants #trade

There once were two fire ants on the Gold Coast

Who wanted to go to New South Wales.

But cursing their feet

In a Tallebudgera street

They gave up the trip as a failya.

The Ants by Joachim Ringelnatz (1883–1934)
(A very free translation)

https://www.babelmatrix.org/works/de/Ringelnatz,_Joachim-1883/Die_Ameisen/en/32650-The_Ants*

"NSW has taken immediate action to reduce the risk of fire ants entering NSW after fire ants were detected at Tallebudgera, a suburb in the City of the Gold Coast, just 5.5km from the NSW border."
https://www.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/nsw-takes-immediate-action-against-fire-ants

#Ringelnatz #biosecurity #trade #ants #FireAnts

#FireAnts #Entomology #Australia

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/23/fire-ants-breach-six-queensland-containment-zones-as-authorities-try-to-stop-march-to-nsw-border

@MsDropbear42 @Qldaah madness that this is not given the time and attention needed. When will governments wake up and act? European Wasps, Cane Toads, crown of thorns starfish, fox, and so on. Not enough spent on control, repair, containment whilst we (farmers mainly) lose $B’s annually due to their impact. #fireants #invasivespecies Government inaction + general apathy = disaster. Pity they didn’t play stop the football / soccer : they would be front page news!

https://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/looming-fire-ant-invasion-worse-than-cane-toads-20230621-p5didj.html

What with these horrendous invasive #FireAnts, the similarly horrific #YellowCrazyAnts, our now unstoppable #ClimateCrisis & #environmental destruction, the rise & rise & rise of #ChristoFascist #RWNJs with their escalating war of hate & violence against #women & #LGBTQI peeps, & our enduring #racism against our #FirstNations citizens & #Refugees + #AsylumSeekers ... #WeAreTotallyFscked

#Misanthropy

Unfortunately, I cannot see that a government that has failed to deal with a #pandemic is going to do any better with a #PublicHealth emergency such as #FireAnts

#AusPol

https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/science/environment/2023/06/17/australias-fire-ant-peril/

I was trying to take a pic on my hike of beautiful blooms opening on a redbud tree. I couldn't get the pic right & kept moving around the tree for a couple of minutes. Then I felt little pinpricks at my ankles. You know what that means, I bet.

Yeah I looked down and saw both feet completely encrusted in enraged fire ants! Luckily I was wearing tight ankle socks and tight sweat pants so the damage was minimal but it took a while to get 'em all off as they crawled upward! #FireAnts #hiking

Have you considered an all-natural tree skirt? #fireants

I remember on @NPR / @wnyc hearing a bit about a woman who was preparing to die (from some chronic, ill-defined #illness) and then she stumbled on a bee's nest and got stung all over and her symptoms got massively better...so now she walks around with a little box of bees she sticks her hands into occasionally so she can get stung.

My question, does this work with #fireants? I have them in abundance and they are the most aggressive little buggers!

#chronicillness #health #humor

#BudLitter with abandoned fire ant mound.

#SouthernLife #fireants

New paper just out in @Ecol_Ent! Transient effects of #corridors on polygyne #fireants over a decade @SRScorridor @conscorridor w/@MelissaABurt @JohnLOrrock @nickmhaddad DeWayne Shoemaker @doug_levey (🐜📸 @nashturley 🛩📸 @edamschen) https://resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/een.13214#.Y4jdgD8uLYk.twitter

#Invasion of #venomous #fireants in #Hawaii alarms residents

https://www.naturalnews.com/2022-11-22-invasion-of-venomous-fire-ants-alarms-residents.html

#Invasion of #venomous #fireants in #Hawaii alarms residents

https://www.naturalnews.com/2022-11-22-invasion-of-venomous-fire-ants-alarms-residents.html

#FireAnts are ‘raining down’ and stinging people in #Hawaii, ‘changing way of life,’ residents say | The Independent

‘Ants produce painful stings and large red welts and may cause blindness in pets’

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/fire-ants-raining-down-hawaii-b2222959.html

Referenced link: https://phys.org/news/2022-10-ants-lizards-future-ant.html
Discuss on https://discu.eu/q/https://phys.org/news/2022-10-ants-lizards-future-ant.html

Originally posted by Phys.org / @physorg_com@twitter.com: https://twitter.com/physorg_com/status/1582093858170544128#m

Eating #fireants could prepare #lizards for future fire ant attack @penn_state https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10530-022-02939-8 https://phys.org/news/2022-10-ants-lizards-future-ant.html

Fire ant rafts form because of the Cheerios effect, study concludes - Enlarge / Georgia Tech scientists found that the so-called "Cheerios ef... - https://arstechnica.com/?p=1881039 #collectivebehavior #phasetransitions #activematter #fireants #science #biology #physics

"Scientists say they've figured out at least part of North America's invasive, imported fire ant problem by turning a virus that kills them into a weapon."

#Fireants #Ants #America

https://futurism.com/kill-fire-ants-virus

#Nature humor #TruthIsStrangerThanFiction
#DragonsAreReal. #Ants. #FireAnts