According to Xinhua News Agency, red fire ants, originally distributed in the Paraná River basin in South America, are recognized as one of the 100 most dangerous invasive species in the world.
In spring, the activities of red fire ants gradually become active, and they enter a critical period of prevention and control. The reporter learned from a recent interview that the spread of red fire ants in many southern provinces and regions is not optimistic, and if it is not effectively contained, it will continue to invade more areas. Why are red fire ants so harmful, why is it difficult to curb their spread, and how can they be prevented and controlled?
Red fire ant bites can be fatal
Red fire ants pose a serious threat to agricultural and forestry production, human health, and ecosystems in the invaded areas.
"After I was bitten on the hand, I told my family that I was dizzy, and I went into shock after a while. "In October 2023, Ms. Lai from Huizhou City, Guangdong Province, was accidentally bitten by red fire ants, which caused anaphylactic shock, but fortunately, her family was sent to the hospital for treatment in time. In July 2023, at Qinzhou East Railway Station in Guangxi, a man fainted while waiting for a train, also because he stepped on red fire ants while working, causing anaphylactic shock.
Unlike ordinary ants, red fire ants are very aggressive. When a red fire ant stings, it will bite the skin with the upper jaw forceps, pierce it with a tail needle and release venom, and the sting will have a burning pain, followed by redness, swelling and suppuration, and some people with allergies may go into shock or even die.
Morphology of red fire ant worker ants under the microscope. Xinhua News Agency (Photo courtesy of the Institute of Plant Protection, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences)
"Red fire ants can affect agricultural and forestry production, destroy public facilities such as electricity, transportation, communications, and in the long run, it will also disrupt the ecological balance, attack terrestrial insects, birds and small mammals, and cause biodiversity loss. Qi Guojun, director of the Agricultural Biosecurity Research Office of the Institute of Plant Protection of the Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, introduced.
Red fire ants are extremely fecundive, the number of individuals in a mature ant nest can reach hundreds of thousands, and an ant nest often has multiple queens, each queen ant can lay thousands of eggs per day, and ant mounds can be built on the ground in a short time, which has a great competitive advantage in the ecosystem, and has almost no natural enemies in the mainland.
Lu Lihua, chief expert of the Red Fire Ant Prevention and Control Science and Technology Innovation Center of the Institute of Plant Protection of the Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, introduced: "Red fire ants have a strong aggressiveness, when the nest is disturbed, the red fire ants will swarm out to attack, and the probability of farmers working in the field, landscaping and other field workers being bitten is very high, and it is difficult to prevent and control, which has led to the abandonment of some farmland over time." ”
The invasion of red fire ants has become an international problem
It spreads rapidly on the continents
Red fire ants are tiny but ferocious. Red fire ants were introduced to the United States in the 30s of the last century and have been rampant in the United States for more than 90 years since then. In 2023, dozens of red fire ant nests were discovered for the first time in Sicily, Italy.
Nest morphology of red fire ants in the wild. Xinhua News Agency (Photo courtesy of the Institute of Plant Protection, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences)
According to the statistics released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, in 2016, red fire ants invaded 281 counties (cities and districts) in 11 provinces, and by 2023, the data will change to 625 counties (cities and districts) in 12 provinces, and 344 counties and cities will be newly invaded in 7 years, and their spread rate is still very fast.
The transmission and dispersal pathways of red fire ants are mainly divided into human-caused and natural dispersal. Anthropogenic transmission is generally transmitted through horticultural plants, turf, soil, vehicle transportation, agricultural machinery and equipment, etc. Natural transmission mainly includes the breeding of red fire ants, the dispersal of ants, the dispersal of ants, the dispersal of water currents, and the separation and relocation of nests.
Breeding ants of red fire ants marry fly. Xinhua News Agency (Photo courtesy of the Institute of Plant Protection, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences)
Lu Yongyue, a professor at the Red Fire Ant Research Center at South China Agricultural University, said, "Soil-related transport has the potential to spread red fire ants, and according to our research estimates, if not effectively curbed, red fire ants will continue to spread in the next 10 to 15 years, and may expand to 1,400 to 1,600 counties and cities." ”
Red Fire Ant "Sniper Warfare"
The need to get through the critical "last meter"
Experts suggest that the bite area can be washed with soap or water immediately after being bitten by red fire ants, and topical creams containing steroids can be used to relieve itching. If you have a history of allergies, such as generalized itching, urticaria, dyspnea or other symptoms, or if the allergic reaction is severe, you must be sent to a regular hospital for medical treatment as soon as possible.
To eliminate red fire ants, we must insist on both prevention and control and interception, and killing the queen in the depths of the nest is the key. Qi Guojun introduced that there are many misunderstandings in the prevention and control of red fire ants, and the methods of spraying, burning, fumigation, and bombing circulating on the Internet are not only difficult to completely eradicate red fire ants, but also easy to cause artificial nesting and spread, resulting in more "prevention".
Morphology of the red fire ant queen under a microscope. Xinhua News Agency (Photo courtesy of the Institute of Plant Protection, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences)
In addition to improving the level of biological research and efficient prevention and control technology of red fire ants, "we need to establish a joint prevention and control mechanism with multi-department coordination and operation, and launch a national guidance program for red fire ant prevention and control." Lu Yongyue said that the prevention and control of red fire ants involves agriculture, forestry, transportation, water conservancy and other departments, and the "last meter" of prevention and control is the key, which requires joint cooperation and responsibility to effectively remove them.
Experts said that the relocation of green seedlings and turf is the most important way for the long-distance spread of red fire ant epidemics. The quarantine of the origin and transportation of plants with soil should be strengthened, and the transfer of plants and their products that have not been quarantined or unqualified for quarantine should be strictly controlled, so as to intercept the spread of red fire ants from the source.
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Source: Taizhou Evening News Comprehensive FM93 Traffic Voice, Xinhua News Agency, People's Daily