Answer to Question #150333 in Biology for jordan

Question

The red fire ant is indigenous to South America. In recent years, this invasive species has become a pest for both humans and other ants in the southeastern United States due to their resource consumption and crop destruction.
What would be the safest way to reduce the impact of the non-native red fire ant while minimizing the impact on other organisms?

Answer 1

The Species of imported red fire ants inversion to new parts of the American States post a great threat to the ecosystem in new places where the red fire ant reproduce to form a large population.They make take over the new habitats and attack other insect species and wild populations that dwell primarily in these ares. The birds may also be affected as the red fire ants tend to attack their nestlings.This greatly affects the habitats of of ground dwelling birds mostly.These red red fire ant might also affect the habitat for plant species as they build their nest around the plants interfering with their wall structures.The imported red fire ant(Solenopsis invicta), did spread to southeastern United States by around 1970s from South America. It was first introduced into Alabama.The red imported fire ant tend to be polymorphic as it appear in different sizes and shapes.

The red fire ant species that have invaded the southeastern America occupies a wide variety of habitats such as arid areas,tropical forests,grasslands,buildings and other different surfaces in the ecosystem.When these red fire ants sense that the water levels are rising,they tend to construct rafts.

When they invade the environment,the feed on both plant and dead animal species.

The red fire ant is considered as disastrous and cause huge losses yearly as they damage the ecosystem.They negatively impact the economy largely in the ares they have invaded.

The control mechanisms and eradication strategies for red imported ants must be be ensured to be safe to the the ecosystem.Biological mechanisms are preferred over the used of chemicals such as pesticides. Chemicals might have have extensive effects on the ecosystem and interfere with their normal life..Pseudacteon tricuspis and Pseudacteon curvatus are effective biological tools in controlling the populations of these invasive red fire ants.The two flies of Parasitoid from South America do decapitate the larvae of the worker ants in their final developmental stages hence cut off their life cycle.Moreover,Solenopsis dagueri is a parasitic ant that also invade the colony of the fire ant.

In addition to biological control these invasive ants in the Southeastern America regions, application of baits can be effected.These mechanism too is not harmful to humans and environment.The use of baits can be applied for both mounds or broadcast uses.The bait is sprinkled in small quantities around the mound the then ants can feed on it.The bait trap mechanism has gained effective application in controlling the invasive South American fire ant.