Recently, a seemingly inconspicuous ant has been widely reported and attracted attention because of the successive injuries caused by incidents.
On May 12, the WeChat public account of the "Beijing Landscaping Resources Protection Center" also issued a popular science reminder that as the weather warms, an invasive pest enters the active period, that is, the "fierce" red fire ant. Red fire ants are bright and red, posing a serious threat to human health, ecosystems, agriculture and forestry production in the invaded areas, and are even known as "the strongest invasive insect on the surface". It has not yet been discovered in Beijing.
Incidents of red fire ant injuries have been reported in many places
The bite is painful and unbearable
"I was bitten once, and it was 'fatal', and that night (the sting site) was red, swollen and hot, and the bulging bag was the size of a palm, like another knee on my leg...... At the worst time, the scalp is numb, and the whole person is dizzy. Ms. Xia, who lives in Wuhan, described how she felt after being stung by red fire ants.
It turned out that Ms. Xia was walking in slippers in the community, which is rich in greenery, and she was accidentally stung on her right leg by red fire ants, and then went out several times, even though she wore socks and trousers, she was still bitten on her left leg, ankle and the back of her hand one after another.
Marks left after being stung by red fire ants. Source: Courtesy of the interviewee
Ms. Wu, a resident of Guangdong who had a similar experience to Ms. Xia, said that she was unfortunately bitten by red fire ants under a tree, and at first she didn't think it was a big deal, but the wound began to itch, hot, red and swollen that night, and the redness and swelling continued to spread in the next few days, and the pain was obvious, and she couldn't sleep all night.
Wounds after being stung by red fire ants. Source: Courtesy of the interviewee
"I thought I had been poisoned, and the bite on my leg was horrible, and the pain was so unbearable that I even wondered if I would have to amputate my leg. Later, the dermatologist said that it was insect bite dermatitis, and prescribed two mometasone furoate creams, which were applied 3 times a day and continued to be ice, and after 3 days of medication, they finally slowly recovered. Ms. Wu said that red fire ants are very common in Guangdong, and now they must have anti-mosquito medicine when they go out, and they dare not stand under trees and grass unless they have sprayed beforehand.
Mr. Wu, a resident of Guangxi, also said that there are many red fire ants in southern China, especially near the grass, and signs have been erected in the park to remind them, but the number is too large to be eliminated almost completely, so he can only take precautions and try to stay away from the mound-like ant nests.
Red fire ants have invaded 12 provinces
In 7 years, 344 counties and cities were newly invaded
Red fire ants, native to South America, have a reddish-brown color and a similar appearance to common ants, about 3 mm to 6 mm long. It has been described as "recognized as one of the 100 most dangerous invasive species in the world" and has been listed as a national agricultural, forestry and phytosanitary pest.
Since the first invasion of Taiwan in 2003 and the discovery of red fire ants in Wuchuan, Guangdong Province the following year, red fire ants have spread rapidly in the mainland. According to the survey of the National Agricultural Plant Epidemic Monitoring Network, in 2016, red fire ants invaded 281 counties (cities and districts) in 11 provinces, and in 2023, red fire ants have occurred in 625 counties in 12 provinces such as Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan in the south of the mainland, and newly invaded 344 counties and cities in 7 years, and their spread rate is still very fast.
Morphology of the red fire ant queen under a microscope. Source: Xinhua News Agency
The biggest feature of red fire ants is their nests, which often appear in grass, farmland, wasteland, roadsides, parks and other places, and pile up the fine particles of soil chips dug from the ground into mound-like ant nests, which are honeycomb-shaped inside, while the nests of ordinary ants will not rise; If you peel off the surface, there will be many dark red ants gushing out, large and small, among which the large is a soldier ant, and the small one is a worker ant, all of which can bite and sting.
Nest morphology of red fire ants in the wild. Source: Xinhua News Agency
According to reports, the reproduction ability of red fire ants is amazing. Different from ordinary ants and bees, the red fire ant nest is not obvious, after the queen ant and the male ant will produce a new queen after the breeding period, they will fly everywhere, spread, establish a new nest, later these new nests and the original nest will be connected in a network, the internal interconnection is interconnected, in the range of one or two hundred square meters to form a "super nest" full of anthills, and keep spreading around.
There is more than one queen in a nest, and the removal of one nest will bring the other nest back, and it cannot really cut off the reproductive ability of the nest and destroy the entire nest. This is also the problem that red fire ants are difficult to control.
Sensitive people are bitten by red fire ants or go into shock
If you do not seek medical attention in time, it will cause death
Red fire ants are very easy to form a high-density population in newly invaded areas, once a person or livestock steps on the anthill, they will pour out of the nest, crawl on the body in a swarm to bite, ordinary ants may bite and run, but red fire ants are very aggressive, will not let go when stinging, and will also bite the skin with the upper jaw forceps, and then pierce the tail needle and continue to release venom. This increases the probability of disease in livestock and poultry, affecting their normal growth.
According to the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, after the human body is stung by red fire ants, the injured area will have continuous burning pain, and the local skin will form erythema, blisters, hard swelling, itching, and bacterial secondary infection after the blister bursts.
In addition, about 2% of people have an allergic reaction to the protein in the venom released by red fire ants, and sensitive people will have symptoms such as flushing, hives, and even difficulty breathing, and severe allergic reactions will have symptoms such as vomiting, dizziness and shock, which may be life-threatening if not treated in time.
The garden department reminds
Do not stay in damp places with a lot of mosquitoes, such as grass and trees.
If you encounter a large number of red fire ant colonies, do not step on the nest with your feet or touch it with your hands.
If you find an anthill (a loose mound higher than 10 cm) that is suspected of being a red fire ant, do not disturb or damage it casually, please report it to the local agriculture and forestry technical department in time, do not dispose of it yourself, and do not try to raise it.
Source: Xinhua News Agency, WeChat public account of "Beijing Landscaping Resources Protection Center", etc