July 1, 2009
Meet your new masters, Earthlings
A single mega-colony of ants has colonised much of the world, scientists have discovered.Uh oh.Argentine ants living in vast numbers across Europe, the US and Japan belong to the same interrelated colony, and will refuse to fight one another.
The colony may be the largest of its type ever known for any insect species, and could rival humans in the scale of its world domination.
In Europe, one vast colony of Argentine ants is thought to stretch for 6,000km (3,700 miles) along the Mediterranean coast, while another in the US, known as the 'Californian large', extends over 900km along the coast of California. A third huge colony exists on the west coast of Japan.Full article here.
Posted by David on July 1, 2009 10:48 AM
Comments
That frightens me considerably more than global warming!!
Posted by: Michael Tinkler on July 7, 2009 6:56 AM
These ants are ranked among the world's 100 worst animal invaders..of course we should be frightened
Posted by: Relation K on July 10, 2009 6:48 AM
just one fact slightly wrong ....6000 km is about 3000 miles not 375.....
just wondered if anyone else noticed....
Posted by: rob russell on August 2, 2009 4:06 PM
Looks like the BBC corrected that typo; we've done the same.
Posted by: David on August 2, 2009 9:26 PM
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