Carnivorous Ants In Haiti?

Keith R

Keith R

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Elton many (too many!) ants in the DR bite (something I learned the hard way during my years in Santo Domingo). But not like this! I'd also like to find out more about the creatures, and the risk, if any, that they might eventually cross the island...
 
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elton

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perhaps we need a line of chalk along the border - do these things also fly
 
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Lambada

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elton said:
perhaps we need a line of chalk along the border - do these things also fly
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Not so silly as it sounds. We use Chinese chalk on our common or garden Dominican ants and they won't cross a line drawn on the tiles. So.........maybe a wall of chalk at the border (until some entrepreneur notices it is white & powdery and attempts to set up a punto :ermm:).
Seriously, Keith R, with forward planning being what it is here & knowing that Haiti allegedly reported this over a year ago, I'm a little surprised not to have seen anything by the Agriculture Ministry in the papers before now. At least to throw the blame elsewhere in standard fashion. But I read the papers regularly & until today I have seen nothing.
 
Keith R

Keith R

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Nor have I. Ginni. But I'm wondering how accurate the Prensa Latina report is -- from what I'm finding so far online, these ants are annoying but nowhere am I finding that they have "mutated" and attack cattle and poultry. Maybe rumor reported by Haitian farmers and faithfully repeated by the press?
 
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A.Hidalgo

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According to the following the description of the feeding and foraging of the ants is not as savage as the Prensa Libre article states.....of course I'm no scientist and maybe it has mutated to prefer items as large as a beef stake.:cheeky:

Foragers are opportunists (Andersen 1992). They feed on live and dead insects, honeydew, fruits, and many household foods (Smith 1965). Honeydew is obtained by tending plant lice, mealy bugs, and scales (Smith 1965; Farnsworth 1993). These ants are especially fond of sweet food sources (Smith 1965). Foragers will also collect seeds (Smith 1965). Large prey items, as large as a lizard, are carried by a highly concerted group action (Trager 1984)
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Invasive anst - Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille)
 
E

Ezequiel

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Jun 4, 2008
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Lambada said:
No, I'm not being flippant. This is what it says in English
Ants Invade Haiti - Prensa Latina

and Spanish
El Nacional, la voz de todos

Is anyone knowledgeable about these creatures? Like............how far can they walk? ;) Farming in the DR has enough problems right now without animals being attacked by ants.................
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Holy guacamole! how does ants got to Haiti? poor Haitians have enough with bad news already to add those Ants it's like a Fuku.
 
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GringoCArlos

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I was going to suggest that maybe someone could transplant a few into the DR huacales to help reduce the government's budget expenditures, but reading the citations, it says they favor protein in the summer, and there aren't many botellas in the office in the summer here, are there? jajaja
 
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Lambada

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Keith R said:
Nor have I. Ginni. But I'm wondering how accurate the Prensa Latina report is -- from what I'm finding so far online, these ants are annoying but nowhere am I finding that they have "mutated" and attack cattle and poultry. Maybe rumor reported by Haitian farmers and faithfully repeated by the press?
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Maybe. This article in National Geographic says there are carnivorous ants
Army Ants Obey Traffic Plan to Avoid Jams, Study Says
and according to this the Caribbean Crazy Ant in large numbers drives off fire ants (those are the biters!)
UF/IFAS Okeechobee Extension Service | Caribbean Crazy Ants

This non-academic website states 'It is also not uncommon for colonies of fire ants to attack and sometimes kill domestic animals and pets, as well as livestock and wildlife' (note this refers to fire ants, a different type of ant)
Ant Killer,Ants,Ant control,Fire ants killer,Insecticides, Pesticides

On the Center for Urban & Structural Entomology Texas A&M University,
Department of Entomology website I found: 'Another species of Paratrechina, fulva, has caused great pestilence in rural and urban areas of Colombia. In many cases, they displaced all other ant species. Small livestock (e.g. chickens) may die of asphyxia. Larger animals, such as cattle, are attacked around eyes, nasal fossae and hooves.' (emboldening mine)
Exotic Texas Ant

So - some evidence there that poultry and cattle can be attacked. I've written to Dr. Jason Meyers at Texas A&M,
Jason Meyers Bio
sent him the Prensa Latina link & asked for his comments particularly vis-a-vis whether agricultural authorities here in DR should be alerted. We'll see if he gets back to me.
 
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Lambada

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Jason Meyers has responded:

Unfortunately this could be the case. I would have to see the samples in order to confirm this to make sure it is not an erroneous story. Do you think you could attain samples of this ant across the border?

There were published reports in a scientific journal of an ant species in Colombia causing nearly identical results. We have not seen these affects directly here in Texas, however, I have seen them attacking small birds in areas of lesser density. I believe we have not witnessed this because the ant has not infested areas (of Texas) with these types of animals or situations. This has been a major concern regarding the invasion of this ant to Texas.

Do you believe that you could get samples of the ant? If so, we could send you a package with paid-postage that you could send back.

Thank you,

Jason

Jason Meyers
Graduate Assistant
Center for Urban and Structural Entomology
2143 TAMU
College Station, TX

So...........is anyone near the border or actually in Haiti who could get a sample sent?

KeithR, I'm forwarding the email to your Green Team email address, so that you have the details to advise anyone interested in how to contact Jason Meyers.
 
Z

ZEUS

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Feb 14, 2003
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I hope they're not from Africa. There's a species called Siafus (ciafus). Nothing stops them when they go out hunting. They march in the millions and the best thing you can do is get out of their way.

Let's hope they don't cross the border.:chinese:

Zeus;)
 
Keith R

Keith R

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ZEUS said:
I hope they're not from Africa. There's a species called Siafus (ciafus). Nothing stops them when they go out hunting. They march in the millions and the best thing you can do is get out of their way.

Let's hope they don't cross the border.:chinese:

Zeus;)
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Doubt it, unless they hitched a ride on an African freighter visiting a port on Hispa?ola. :glasses: Possible I guess, but not probable.
 
Keith R

Keith R

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I was wondering how long it would be before someone posted a link or joke involving either "Them" or "The Naked Jungle," the Charleton Heston flick about army ants... :classic:

Cute, but let's not get carried away and hijack the thread. I'm skeptical of the original articles and claims and it's tempting to make fun of it all (lord knows I was tempted), but who knows, maybe there's a grain of truth in it. Vamos a ver.
 
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Lambada

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It would appear that the Secretary of Agriculture is with the programme because his PR person gave a press conference this morning. They are aware of the issue & said that the most likely transit method would be via merchandise crossing the border........ Gotta love this bit 'Sin embargo, explic? que por el momento eso no es problema, porque en el mercado entre ambos pa?ses, la mayor parte de los productos van desde Rep?blica Dominicana, porque es muy poco lo que viene desde all?' namely it isn't a problem at the moment because the majority of merchandise is from the DR to Haiti and not the other way round...............

I'll fire off another email asking about Haiti-DR merchandise - human, drugs and arms etc :cheeky: 'Would you like your cocaine with or without carnivorous ants?'

El Nacional, la voz de todos

Btw, Berzin's sci-fi film might look like a historic archive to some but I was 11 years of age when that was released.............
 
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Lambada

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From today's DR1 News:

Shipments will be fumigated
Agriculture Minister Salvador Jimenez has said that all shipments coming from Haiti will be fumigated as part of an initiative to prevent the spread of a carnivorous ant outbreak that has been reported in border areas. Jimenez said the ant, the Paratrechina (Hymenoptera formicidae), is a very aggressive ant that attacks crops and livestock. The Minister said that several international organizations are taking part in the fumigation project. Jimenez said that government officials have known about the outbreak for three months and have helped the Haitian authorities identify the particular ant.

There is also more here:
Agricultura instruye reforzar medidas ante presencia de hormigas carn?*voras en Hait?*
 
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