About 20 states have slowly been taken over by an invading species of stinging, meat-eating ants.
At least three people in Georgia had life-threatening anaphylactic attacks last year. This tiny (and little-known) bug is becoming a bigger problem.
Even if you get stung by one, it will still be hard to find “Asian needle ants” in July and August, when there are the most of them. Because they are so small and fit in so well, people often get stung when they accidentally bother them, like when they are gardening or moving wood.
Benoit Guénard, an ecology and entomology professor at the University of Hong Kong who studied ants in North Carolina, said, “That’s like having someone stick a needle right into your flesh.” “It’s a very sharp, acute pain but it’s quite local.”
It has been hard to keep track of them for a long time, but now experts say the Asian needle ant’s spread shouldn’t be ignored.
Prof. Daniel Suiter, an expert in insects that live in cities at the University of Georgia, said, “They’re pretty common on the East Coast.” “If you live in an area which is dominated by hardwood trees, there’s a good chance there are Asian needle ants underfoot.”
For some people, the stings can be very dangerous. For some, it’s a strange pain that comes and goes for hours.
This is one of the mysteries of the Brachyponera chinensis ant, whose name means “short, wicked ant from China” but which is truly native to China, Japan, and the Koreas. In some older versions, it may have also meant “short constricted ants from China.”
Not easy to find or kill
It was first found in the United States in 1932 in Decatur, Georgia. However, it has only been seen as a major problem in the last 20 years, as it has spread across the southeast in a big way. The site antmaps.org says that you can now find it in Wisconsin, Washington, Connecticut, Florida, and all the way down to Florida in the south. There are also reports that they have been seen in Texas.
These ants eat meat and will look for termites, flies, beetles, and grasshoppers, among other things. Because they hunt, they don’t leave behind scent trails like some ants do, which makes it hard to find their nests and get rid of them.
“Most ants are very unpleasant, and they leave a pheromone trail to find food.” “An ant trail that’s half an inch wide is impossible to miss,” Suiter said. “These remain hidden.”
The dark brown ants live in groups in grass, logs that have rotted, firewood, and dirt. They usually live in private areas, like parks and neighbourhoods, and they like to hide in homes and under things like railway ties, logs, bricks and pavers. They can also build their nests in fields, under wood piles, and in potted plants.
Someone who works in the insect identification lab at Virginia Tech and is a diagnostician said, “People get stung most often when they’re working in their garden.” “Nobody likes to be putting in their bedding plants and then suddenly have unexpected pain.”
The worker ants have small, dark, shiny bodies that are about 0.2 inches long. Their legs and antennae are orange and lighter. Dellinger said, “They have a long jaw and a big stinger on the business end.”
They’re pretty long and thin, but the “needle” in their name comes from their Japanese name, Oo-hari-ari, which means “giant needle ant” and describes how big their stinger is….
A bug expert at Purdue University called Andrew Johnston said that people can learn to live with Asian needle ants, just like people have learnt to live with bees.
“They’re not aggressive, they don’t swarm the way fire ants do,” he told us. “Wear gloves and pay attention to what you’re grabbing.”
Suiter said that one way to keep ants away is to keep firewood and broken logs off the ground. This is because ants like to live in damp places and around wood.
And if you’re easily hurt by bug bites, Dellinger says, “carry an EpiPen.”
A painful sting that lasts a long time
Guénard has been hurt by many kinds of ants and other bugs, but Asian needle ants are the only ones that he knows of that cause pain that is very bad at first, goes away, and then comes back over and over again.
“The first pain only lasted a few seconds.” After about five minutes, when the pain was gone, I felt like someone had stung me again in the same spot. “The pain keeps coming back in the same spot; it goes away and then comes back,” Guénard said.
“For me, it goes on for about two hours,” he stated. “But I know in some people it lasts for as much as 24 to 48 hours.”
There are times when it can also be fatal. The sting can cause allergic reactions, and in 1% of people who get it, the venom can kill them with anaphylaxis shock.
Many years of mystery
Researchers still don’t fully understand why these invading ants didn’t start spreading quickly in the US until the 1980s and 1990s.
The Asian needle ant is from China, Japan, and Korea. It was first found in Georgia in 1932, but it probably got here a lot earlier.
“It’s very likely the ants were introduced in the early 20th century because by 1934 they were already found in three states, so clearly they hadn’t just arrived,” he said.
Guénard thinks that they might have come to the US in the root balls of trees that were brought in from Asia because they live in dirt and mulch.
Researchers aren’t sure why they spread at that particular time. Research shows that the ants stayed in the same areas well into the 1970s. In 1962, naturalist W.G. Carter made a very detailed list of all the ants that lived in North Carolina.
“He never found them,” Guénard said.
Then, from 1991 to 2017, Asian needle ants moved across North Carolina and can now be found all over the state.
“Something happened,” said Guénard. “I could not tell you exactly what.”
It has been found that this alien species is hurting the environment as it spreads. Asian needle ants eat native insects that have developed to play important roles in the ecosystems where they live.
Such as, no one wants termites in their house, but they are very important to the health of the forest. “They’re very important because they help with the decomposition of dead wood and other organic matter,” he said.
There is also evidence that native ants in the area play a big role in the spread of seeds for some plant and tree species. The seeds won’t be spread if the Asian needle ants take over their home.
“The seeds just die rather than being dispersed,” he stated.
As the weather gets warmer and wetter in some places, these ants will be able to live in more places, and they will likely move into new areas. Based on Guénard’s earlier research, the amount of North America that could be useful is projected to grow by as much as 75% in the next fifty years or so.
How dangerous are Asian needle ants?
Asian needle ants aren’t as mean as fire ants; when they see people, they usually just run away. They will, however, sting back if they feel threatened, like if someone reaches into a pile of wood, mulch, or dirt near their nest.
The ants can be harmful to your health because their poison can make some people allergic. If you are allergic to bee stings, Virginia Tech says you should see a doctor right away if you start having breathing problems or other allergic reactions after being stung by an Asian needle ant.
A poll of Koreans who live in an area where ants like to live found that 2.1% of those bitten had systemic allergic responses, and 1.2% went into anaphylaxis. The danger seemed to be greatest for people who had been stung more than once.
While Guénard was doing research in North Carolina, he kept an Asian needle ant website. While there is no national database of health problems related to these insects, he got reports of 21 cases in Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington, DC. At least 12 of those people said they had severe allergic responses, including anaphylactic shock.
In some cases, people were moving logs, farming, or even swimming when young female ants flying to start new colonies fell into their pools. Most of the stinging happened during the summer, from April to September, when there were a lot of swarms, with the most happening in May and July.
Last year, three people in Georgia went into anaphylaxis shock after being stung by an Asian needle ant. “I fully expect that some people who end up in the emergency room were stung by them but didn’t realise it,” he added.
If you are already very allergic to other biting insects, Asian needle ants may make you even more likely to get anaphylaxis.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture lists the following symptoms as possible
- Some skin responses are hives, itching, and skin that is red or pale.
- Hypotension means low blood pressure.
- Narrowing of the airways, coughing, and trouble breathing.
- Tongue or throat that is swollen.
- Heartbeat that is weak and quick.
- sickness, throwing up, or diarrhoea.
- Feeling dizzy or passing out.
- mental signs, like a sense that bad things are about to happen.
The sting of an Asian needle ant does not leave a wound like the sting of an invasive fire ant.
What can be done about Asian needle ants?
This type of ant is harder to get rid of than others because it doesn’t leave behind pheromone trails that can be easily broken or used to get the ants to bring poison back to their homes.
They use a method called “tandem carrying” instead.
“One worker ant will pick up another worker ant and drag it over to the food source to show it where it is,” said Dellinger.
That makes baiting them hard, especially since their groups are usually small and flat, making them hard to find. “We suggest a protein-based bait for this species, and it can take some time for these ants to take the poison back to the colony,” she added.
As of now, there is no official advice on how to handle this species. One study that was released found that using bait that had termite skin extracts that worked well.
Dellinger said that spraying for a wide area won’t help and will hurt other important plant species. She told him, “Try to treat the nest.”
Instead of getting rid of something, the goal is to manage it. That could mean getting rid of grass in places where ants might be a problem, raising woodpiles so they don’t get wet below, keeping a close eye out for colonies (which can take a while), and only baiting areas where there are definitely ants.
Also, Asian needle ants are hard to spot because they look a lot like other types of ants. Dellinger said, “There are many ants outside.” “We get out the microscope.” If identification isn’t clear, she said to call the local agriculture extension. “It’s a free service and they can help identify what’s on your property.”
