A crusade to invade that began in North Carolina has spread to
the Midwest, Pacific Northwest and even to an island packed with
concrete and glass – Manhattan. So go the travels of the Asian
needle ant, an invasive species native to Japan. Citizen
scientists connected with the School of Ants project – which
asks amateur scientists to find and report on what’s crawling
near their homes and schools – are unearthing Asian needle ants
far away from the Carolinas. Asian needle ants don’t play well
with native ants, says Dr. Rob Dunn, an associate professor of
biology at NC State and founder of the School of Ants project.
Native ant populations decline when Asian needle ants appear on
the scene, while seed dispersal of native plants declines. Plus,
needle ant bites aren’t great for people. Some people who are
bitten go into life-threatening anaphylactic shock. Dunn wants
more citizen scientists to look for more ants in more parts of
the country to see how far the Asian needle ants have spread. If
caught in time, th