Over the past 100 years, there have been several species of plants and animals introduced – either accidentally or on purpose – into the United States that have caused huge problems; things like Kudzu planted to control erosion, or Chinese Grass Carp brought in to control aquatic vegetation in southern lakes and ponds. Both of these had, and are still having, environmental impacts that were never envisioned when they were first imported.
Probably the most devastating accidental arrival was the South American Fire Ant. Arriving as stow-aways on cargo ships, the little buggers found an ideal environment with no natural predators.
Anything chemical that kills fire ants (and almost nothing does very effectively) kills off any desirable insects in the area as well.
From the first few ants that landed at Mobile, Alabama in the 20’s, they have expanded to millions of ants in colonies in all the red shaded areas of the map above.
So, what is the solution? The University of Texas thinks the answer is to import another bug:
http://www.utexas.edu/opa/video/closeup/2012/zombie_ants.mp4
The logic seems to be on their side, and it seems that they have done due diligence in terms of making sure the bugs were fire ant specific, so it might work. So, why am I thinking about Nutria, Kudzu and Carp?
Read more about the history of the UT fire ant lab at 20 years of fire ants.
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