Fire Ants Essay -- essays research papers

Fire AntsFire emmets have been in the join States for over sixty years, and almostevery American that lives in or frequently visits the quarantined states whichthey inhabit has had an unpleasant run in with these difficult critters.Inhabitants of the southwestwardeast who have ever stood unwittingly atop a wake antmound know that the insects are aptly named. When the ants sting it creates asensation similar to scorching ca dod by a hot chivvy touching the skinmomentarily (1. Tschinkel 474). Fire ants are native to South America and wereintroduced to the United States in 1928 through a port in Mobile, Alabama. Theants were stowaways hidden in soil used for ballast and in dunnage dropped collide withthe ships once they had sailed from South America to the ports of Alabama (2.Lockley 31). The two basic species of apprise ants in the United States are theare morose and red, they vary in length from one eighth to one quarter inch.Black assoil ants arrived first followed shortl y by the infamous imported red provoke ants. Black ants (Solenopsis Richteri Forel) were the first to arrive andspread slowly but steady despite government intervention to stop them fromspreading(3. Lockley 33). These black ants would spread untold further then thesecond wave of imported ants recognized as Solenopsis Invicta Buren or red go over ants(4. Lockley 33). This second wave of ants arrived in about 1945 andspread much more quickly and dominated the prior more passive black ant(5.Lockley 34). Homer Collins, a fire ant expert, stated that "The new invader,known as the red imported fire ant, proved more adaptive and rapidly displacedthe existing imported black ant. By 1949, Solenopsis Invicta Buren were thedominant species of imported fire ant. Ants could be run aground in commercialornamental-plant nurseries in the heart of the Southeast." Red ants are aparticularly aggressive ant species that, like the killer bees, are rapidlyspreading northward from the Southeas tern United States, and have traveled as faraway west as Texas and as far north as North Carolina. "Experts predict that theants may eventually reach as far west as California and as far north asChesapeake Bay."(7. Tschinkel 474). The spread of fire ants into new areasdepends on many factors the existing take of fire ant population, climate,competition, and natural predators . In areas where other ant popul... ...ed States over sixty years ago. Even in1997 society has not give an effective way to exterminate or control the spreadof these troublesome insects. As mankind chooses to genetically experiment withspecies and continues to connect the remote areas of the human beings with faster andmore efficient means of moving feed and goods. Occurrences of inadvertenttransportation of troublesome pests, bacteria, and viruses will also increase.The fire ant time costly and annoying wont cause the absolute remnant oflife as we know it. Fire ants are however a reminder that e cosystems are adelicately balanced environments with forces that keep the food chainfunctioning. The fire ant and the African killer bee do not have naturalenemies in the Southern United States that reside in South Africa. As mankind prohibits the rain forests of South America for cows grazing, he has releasedthings like the Hunta virus, and the Ebola virus in Africa. Both of theseviruses could rapidly destroy populations. Mankind has made tremendous leaps inknowledge and technology during this century. If this use of that technologyis not metered and controlled intelligently it may be the downfall of themankind.