Daily Talk Forum
  • Advertise
  • Search
  • Member List
  • Calendar
Hello There, Guest! Login Register
Daily Talk Forum › General Discussions › Agriculture, Aquaculture, Gardening and Pets v
« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 ... 17 Next »

Super ants 'on way to Britain' warns study



Post Reply 
 
Thread Rating:
  • 0 Votes - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Threaded Mode | Linear Mode
Super ants 'on way to Britain' warns study
forwardone Offline
Gold Member
*****
Gold Members

Posts: 6,705
Joined: May 2006
Reputation: 15
Post: #1
Super ants 'on way to Britain' warns study

A new ant which was discovered less than 20 years ago could be on the way to wreak havoc in parks and gardens of Northern Europe including Britain, according to a report published today.

The invasive pest ant Lasius neglectus has been found in more than 100 locations across Europe, where it quickly exterminates its local rivals, the study says.

It resembles the common black garden ant but the number of workers crawling around is between 10 and 100 times greater.

An international team of 20 researchers, co-ordinated from the Centre for Social Evolution at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, started a study of the ants more than five years ago.

Dr Sylvia Cremer, lead author, said: "We found that invasive garden ants developed from species in the Black Sea region that have natural populations with small networks of interconnected nests with many queens that mate underground and don't fly.

"It is now becoming clear that rather many ant species share this lifestyle, so that it is no surprise that a number of them have become invasive pests with giant super-colonies based on the same principles."

As the ant's name illustrates, the species was overlooked until it was described in 1990, when it had already infested a neighbourhood in the Hungarian capital Budapest.

"When I saw this ant for the first time, I simply could not believe there could be so many garden ants in the same lawn," says Professor Jacobus Boomsma, one of its co-discoverers.

The ant is able to thrive in the temperate climate zones of Europe and Asia, and has now reached Jena in Germany, Ghent in Belgium, and Warsaw in Poland.

They can move to new areas when they infest large potted plants which are then moved around across borders.

"The future will see many more ants become invasive, so it is about time we understand their biology and this study is a major step in that direction," says Jes Pedersen, who co-ordinates the research programme in Copenhagen.

The study is published in the online, open-access journal PLoS ONE.


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/scienc...49369.html
12-03-2008 11:25 AM
Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply


« Next Oldest | Next Newest »
Post Reply 


Possibly Related Threads...
Thread: Author Replies: Views: Last Post
  Nopal Cactus Super Fruit Coffee Break 19 24,542 06-26-2010 05:46 AM
Last Post: eddystratus
  Thanet Earth, Britain’s largest greenhouse development, starts production forwardone 0 3,240 01-08-2009 05:31 PM
Last Post: forwardone
  Migrating Birds Giving Britain A Miss forwardone 0 1,209 08-18-2007 11:06 AM
Last Post: forwardone
  Ants CAN Kill! forwardone 1 1,644 02-23-2007 04:00 PM
Last Post: dex

  • View a Printable Version
  • Send this Thread to a Friend
  • Subscribe to this thread
Forum Jump:


User(s) browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)

Advertise on Daily Talk Forum
  • Webmaster Forum
  • cPanel Hosting
  • SEO Directory
  • Toronto
    • Contact Us
    • Daily Talk Forum
    • Return to Top
    • Lite (Archive) Mode
    • RSS Syndication
    • Help
    • Portal
    • Membership
    • Advertise
    • Banners
    • Privacy
    • Rules

    • Review DTF at Alexa
    • Review DTF at Nortons
    • Site Map

    • Links
    • Your Link Here
    Current time: 01-24-2021, 03:59 AM Powered By MyBB, © 2002-2021 MyBB Group Theme created by Justin S