Ant mega-colony takes over world.

A single mega-colony of ants has colonised much of the world.
Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) were once native to South America. But people have unintentionally introduced the ants to all continents except Antarctica.

In Europe, one vast colony of the ants is thought to stretch for 3,700 miles along the Mediterranean, while another in California extends over 560 miles.

You can read the whole article here:
Ant mega-colony takes over world.

So, a single mega-colony of ants have succeeded where so many supervillains have failed. They've taken over the world.

Think about it. Maybe they're just biding their time, waiting until opportunity reveals itself to overthrow us!

Is it possible???

reply to post by dope001


The Argentine ants are a huge problem here in South Africa as well ... they are incredibly fast breeding and have spread all over the country. As soon as you get rid of a colony, another one pops up in it's place within a few months.

I cannot put a glass or plate on the floor while watching a movie or tv, because within a few minutes it will be covered by them.

It is incredible to think of ant mega colonies ... do they not have natural predators?

wow, it's more worse than I first presume.

reply to post by dope001

They have been here a while:

This species was first recorded in South Africa in 1901 in Stellenbosch, Western Cape Province (WCP),

and have spread through most of our provinces whilst displacing the native ant species:

The Argentine ant was found in six of the nine South African Provinces, and its extent of occurrence includes approximately half of the country’s land surface area. Discontinuities in the distribution of the Argentine ant across the country revealed that range expansion of the Argentine ant in South Africa is occurring predominantly via human-mediated jump dispersal, rather than naturally via nest diffusion. This study clearly demonstrated that the Argentine ant is well established across South Africa as well as inside protected areas. The Argentine ant invasion was influenced by the presence of human modified landscapes (i.e. buildings) both at low and high altitude, and this was associated with higher rates of native ant species displacement at these areas. Therefore, limiting the development of recreational areas, such as buildings and picnic sites inside protected areas will result in the lower rate of spread of the Argentine ant. This will in turn lower the extent of displacement of native ant species.

Link

[edit on 7/7/2009 by deltaalphanovember]

[edit on 7/7/2009 by deltaalphanovember]

My house in Kenilworth, Cape town gets invaded by those little black "sugar" ants. (I think they are call that)

Looking at the pic of the ant in the OP post, im not sure if I have ever seen one of those? Unless I am mistaken.

When I used to stay in Joburg there was a hell of alot of those 'red ants' which attack your feet when you walk in the veld.

Is this bad for the earth these super colonies? wont they cause sinkholes and the like?

The Orkin man is a natural predator. Or we could start a rent an anteater company. Maybe starve them for awhile, give them some steroids, and set them loose on the mega ant colonies.

reply to post by qwiksilva


I think it's bad, even a small colony can make large tunnels.
If a big colony makes a nest under a house, I think the house could collaps.

reply to post by qwiksilva


Remember you are looking at a magnified picture .. the one on the fore ground is the Queen.
Yes, they are also called sugar ants:
Link

Last week I looked out my window onto the front sidewalk which is surrounded by planting beds with various shrubs and flowers and saw a swarm of ants milling in a cloudlike formation. There must have been millions of them! So, I got out my hose and set it to full pressure so I could wash them off the sidewalk.

As soon as I turned the spray on them, full force, the ants piled on top of each other in several columns about three inches high. So I changed the angle of the hose and went at them again. I got in real close with the hose determined to wash them all down the driveway. I couldn't believe what they did. All of them, seemingly with one mind, piled on top of each other, clinging to the border edging and no matter what I did, the full force of the spray could not budge them.

It was really creepy! It took about fifteen minutes to spray them all away.

The next day, they were back! Only this time, there were about 3/4 the number from the day before. I left them alone this time.

After about 3 hours they disappeared, I suppose back underground. But they came back the next day, milling around for about 3 more hours.

Totally weird. At least to me because I've never seen ants do that!

After the 3rd day, they have not been back.

Originally posted by deltaalphanovember

It is incredible to think of ant mega colonies ... do they not have natural predators?

Can't Ardvarks handle them?

reply to post by no1dea


I haven't seen aardvarks roaming around in Johannesburg lately ... and in any event the chief food of the aardvark is the termite or where there is an ant or termite mound.

I did find this:

Pesticides haven’t stopped them. Trapping hasn’t worked, either. But now chemists and biologists at the University of California, Irvine, (UCI) think they may have found a natural way to finally check the spread of environmentally destructive Argentine ants in California and elsewhere in the United States: Spark a family feud.

Link

Scientists are using chemical warfare:

Slight alterations in the “recognition” chemicals on the exoskeletons of these closely related pests, these scientists say, could transform “kissing cousins” into mortal enemies, triggering deadly in-fighting within their normally peaceful super colonies

Originally posted by dope001
reply to post by qwiksilva

 

I think it's bad, even a small colony can make large tunnels.
If a big colony makes a nest under a house, I think the house could collaps.

Oh man, so I wouldnt want to live on that 600km or 6000km colony!! Imagine if half of Britain started sinking because of ants.

reply to post by Hazelnut


I have experienced the same. But instead of using a hose, I broke out the WD-40 and a lighter.

They didn't have a chance!

reply to post by Hazelnut


They must know you're waiting to wash them away

Lil experiment, draw a thick circle of chalk round one and see what it does...

For the last 2 weeks I have had a line of ants going from the house on my right, to the house on my left. My back patio was in their path, and the entire strech was about 40-50 yards.

The first day it was the most ants I have ever seen at one time. I had to poison them almost daily on smoke breaks (I think my poison was bad from being outside all winter). Their numbers slowly went down and now I have not seen any for a week.

Disclaimer: I HATE ants.

Yeah, I know they perform a function in nature, but...I HATE ants!

Two kinds especially:

Argentines and fire ants.

I can eliminate fire ants okay. It took an entire summer in my youth to figure out how, but it can be done, if you prepare well, have the necessary flammables, poisons, water source and explosives (ah, the joys of growing up in Texas).

But the damned Argentines. They overrun everything, eat my strawberries, attack crumbs, search everywhere for water. If I don't stay on top of them, the floor would literally be black with them. It doesn't help that here in SoCal we need to keep iceplant around the house to help against wildfires. The little misbegotten nasties love living in the stuff. The best I can achieve against them is a running border war.

Did I mention I HATE ants?

Originally posted by jjkenobi
The Orkin man is a natural predator. Or we could start a rent an anteater company. Maybe starve them for awhile, give them some steroids, and set them loose on the mega ant colonies.

The ants would kill them.........You would need a shat load of anteaters , but that is actually a good idea.....

Just where ever they find a location of one send some anteaters down there of possible or near the area....