The little fire ant is just 1.5 millimeters long, but its sting packs a punch. In a 2016 paper by Casper Vanderwoude and colleagues published in Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society , the team traced its spread. First recorded in 1999, it was initially introduced and spread through the import and sale of nursery stock.
Hawaii is famous for its beaches, volcanoes, and rare wildlife. But a tiny ant has become one of its most challenging pests.
If so, then they were in the neighborhood around 1993 or earlier. A 1972 report said its effect on land invertebrates seemed to be the most serious of any introduced animal in the Galapagos. Inspectors placed peanut-butter-coated chopsticks in the pots for 45 minutes, then checked for ants.
Officials think the Kauai ants arrived on palms shipped from a nursery on the Big Island. Scientists urge caution. Wetterer and Porter say most reports of harm to animals are anecdotal, and the damage tends to be worst on tropical islands where the ant is not native. Research in New Caledonia also connected the ant to injury to native reptiles. At most of the other invaded sites, Hawaii included, little was known about the impact when the review came out. Concern for Hawaii’s wildlife is based on what the ant has done elsewhere. Early action matters most. A few hectares of infestations can be cleared quite easily with persistence. Infestations covering a few dozen hectares can still be cleared, but they require at least ten times more effort and money. Those covering hundreds of hectares are very difficult to eradicate. All rooted plants leaving the Big Island had to be tested at the time that review was written. Vanderwoude’s team notes that several agencies now share the work of prevention and response.
The release said the ants may have been on the Big Island for at least six years before anyone noticed them. Vanderwoude’s team said the ants are now found almost everywhere on the windward side of the Big Island and that they travel on non-farm goods, too.
