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Are red imported fire ants all bad?


EdEarl

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phys.org

 

Red imported fire ants have earned a justifiably bad rap across the south and most Texans would be hard put to name a single redeeming quality the ants have.

 

But a team of Texas A&M scientists and a colleague from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge have published a manuscript offering a glimmer of redemption for the invaders. The paper, "Decreased small mammal and on-host tick abundance in association with invasive red imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta," was published in the scientific journal Royal Society Biology Letters on Sept. 21.

Prior to the fire ant invasion, we had other kinds of ants, including carpenter ants, which ate holes in the house. Since the fire ants arrived, I've not seen any carpenter ants in more than a decade, and few others species of ant as well. Anyone else notice changes from fire ants that may be beneficial?

 

While the lack of carpenter ants prevents damage to my house, the decay rate of fallen trees and branches is slower, I suspect, which may slow CO2 being released into the atmosphere and lessen global warming.

Edited by EdEarl
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Red ants! Stepping in their mounds barefoot or sitting on them accidentally, I have nothing but fond memories of them growing up in the south. Avoid them, we didn't and seldom had to. They weren't as much pests to us as they were sources of cruel childhood amusement. Oh, the things we did to them and to others with them! Those warm summers and the sweet smell of honeysuckle, it was an innocent time that passed so quickly. Regarding the article, I do recall that wherever the red ant's nested, it was more difficult to find the insects we used for fish bate and the small animals we collected as pets (e.g., frogs and lizards).

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