Pros And Cons Of The Red Invasive Fire Ants

I do not believe you can suspend army ants away from the earth, on plastic for any length of time. They will lose touch, run out of energy, and die for lack of current." As written before this compares the destructive nature of humans. If a human was taken from their home and their resources, they too would become home sick and could possibly die. Both humans and ants are meant to live their natural habitats.

One of the biggest problems surrounding the protection of California’s plants and crops, is the threat of pests and invasive species. Pests are a constant danger as they can ruin plants by infecting them, or destroying them by eating away at the inside. There is also the danger of invasive species. The National

The world is under attack; by aliens from our own planet. These aliens are known as invasive species. Government agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) have identified invasive species as living organisms that are not native to an ecosystem and their introduction can cause harm to the environment, infrastructure, and people. When these creatures are in their natural ecosystem they can be held in check by predators and other organisms that have evolved to deal with them. Without these opponents invasive species can and will cause economic and biological damage to the area they are introduced to. Invasive species can affect anyone and anything and they must

Red Imported Fire Ants are one of the most destructive invasive species of insects in Texas. They arrived in Texas from South America in the 1920s. Since then, they have expanded across the state, infesting more than the eastern two-thirds of Texas as well as some urban areas in western Texas. Not only do fire ant swarms kill other insects, birds and animals, they also endanger human adults and children who disturb their mounds. Fire ant stings cause red, itchy bumps that are particularly bad for those allergic to the venom. In addition, fire ant mounds are so prevalent and can become so large that they destroy crops.

According to Silent Spring, the United States Office of Plant Introduction has introduced about 200,000 species of plants from around the world, and almost half of the 180 major insect enemies of plants are accidental imports. According to Campbell’s Biology Textbook, these imported animals are known as invasive species, organisms that become established outside their native range. Carson states that often when a species is brought to an area they are not native to, the lack of natural enemies causes the species to become dominant and extremely abundant. These invasions are likely to be permanent, however as a way to “buy time” humans have turned to quarantine and massive chemical campaigns, instead of trying to prevent new invasions. As Carson continuously stresses chemical use can have unwanted consequences and she urges people to use the basic knowledge of animal populations and their relations to their surroundings and other species to prevent them from becoming overly dominate. For example, according to Campbell’s textbook, higher diversity communities are more often resistant to invasive species because the species is less likely to dominate over the native species. This was proven by scientists working in Long Island Sounds off the Coast of Connecticut created communities of different diversity consisting of sessile marine invertebrates, and examined how vulnerable the experimental communities were to an invasive species: the exontic tunicate. They found the tunicate was four times more likely to survive in lower diversity communities than higher diversity communities. It was concluded the diverse communities captured more of the resources available, leaving fewer resources for the invader. It is firmly believed by Carson that people should do much more simple research before transferring a foreign species to a new habitat to not only prevent a

In June of 2011, the Asian Longhorned Beetle was found in Clermont County, about 30 minutes from where I live now. Clermont County is home to East Fork State Park, a 4,870 acre state park which is comprised of about 50% woodland. The Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB) is an invasive insect in Ohio that will host in about 10 different types of trees. This is an important topic to me because this invasive insect is not only single-handedly taking down forests in Ohio, but the introduction of an invasive species also disrupts the soil, air, and water quality. I chose this topic because more people need to be aware of the little things they are doing that can affect the environment. By moving firewood, different types of lumber, or nursery stock to a location that is not affected by the ALB will just make matters worse.

At the beginning of the film/movie, it started with the ant colony picking and providing food for the grasshoppers. They operate by traditional agricultural labor. This film/movie shows an illustration of an economy that relies on the workers to do the labor because there is a scarcity of resources so they need to maintain the amount of food for the colony. This economy is based on a traditionalist economy. They stick to the way things have been for quite some time. There was never any thought of doing anything new because that could cause a huge amount of risk when it comes disrupting the way things have been smoothly running. The ants in the movie run/work off a rank system. Depending on their rank depends on what they do. There is the queen

Local nursery owners and famers in St. Louis, Missouri have listed ticks, ants, mealybugs, fungus gnats, as well as stink bugs as major bug/insect pests and have given me the following information. Interestingly enough, two of these pests (the mealybugs and stink bugs) are not local to Missouri and the U.S. Leaving them to be listed as invasive species. Both of these invasive species cause damage by surviving off of the nutrients from plants.

Too much of the insecticides will allow acetylcholine to build up which would lead to convulsions and eventually death.

Today, scientists are looking to combat, letting in new creatures to prevent a change in the area. To make sure organisms aren't wrongfully transferred there are more pallet inspections, checking containers, and other shipping materials. Government and ecologist officials are adding tougher fines if an unknown species are brought over to a different place. This should stop the amount of illegal predators/species brought over to foreign places. This information can be found here: http://school.eb.com/levels/high/article/invasive-species/544407#. The Africanized honey bee was accidentally released when a geneticist tried to produce a honey bee to replace European ones. The Africanized honey bee is referred to as the "killer bee" and can attack people and animals. They travel in large numbers, very fast and cause harm to a lot of things. This shows just how bad invasive species can be, and the honey bee has already spread to 10 U.S. states. This information is provided here:

Originating and found from countries near the Mediterranean, the French Broom was brought to California, more specifically the Bay Area, as a decorative plant in the 1800’s. The plant grows rapidly, with thousands of seeds being produced every year, especially through the months of April and July. Seeds scatter more than 10 feet away from its plant, and animals scatter them away even farther. French Broom prevents native plants from growing and reproducing. For example, the article explains, “It is a strong competitor and can dominate a plant community, forming dense monospecific stands” (“Invasive Plants”). Eating the seeds has also been known to cause paralysis and digestive disorders in animals. The seeds can also survive in icy and chilly

An invasive species is any kind of living organism that is not native to an ecosystemand usually causes harm to the ecosystem (National Wildlife Federation, 2014). Native species have not coevolved with the invasive species and may not have the ability to deal with the introduced species (Holway et al. 2002). The Red Imported Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta) is a relatively aggressive species of ant native to South America. It was introduced on multiple occasions into the United States in the early- to mid-1900s (Callcott et al. 1996). Since then, it has spread to the very borders of its geographical climate tolerance, and through acclimation, hybridization, and the effects of global climate change, has managed to extend its range much farther than experts ever anticipated. It is now the subject of much research, as it has impacted not only ecological communities but the agricultural economy as well. It is estimated that RIFA have an impact of around $6 billion a year due to control, medical treatment, and damage to property (Lard et al. 2006). Agriculturally, Red Imported Fire Ants can cause financial damages in a number of different ways including eating various parts of the plant or causing the disruption of machinery. (Collins and Scheffrahn, Last Accessed 2014)

Over the years, bees have received invasions from very dangerous parasites straight from a horror movie. For example Acarapis woodi are microscopic mites that infect the Trachea of bees by laying their eggs there, and feeding on their fluids weakening them considerably. The Varroa Destructor reproduces in honeybee hives, and are one of the bees greatest enemies. The female mites enter a hive cell, and lay eggs on the bee larva before the bees cover the cell in wax. When the

which is causing a crisis with the food count. DDT can get rid of those insects that are stealing

An example of a harmful invasive species is the Asian Long-Horned Beetle. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, an Asian Long-Horned Beetle destroys “millions of acres of America's treasured hardwoods, including national forests and backyard trees.” When the trees are killed, the environment is damaged. According to the Center for Invasive Species Research, “if this pest enters a forest ecosystem, the economic impact could be far greater than eradication and containment costs and could adversely impact export markets for various hardwood products such as veneers.” The insect negatively influences the economy, for it demolishes valued trees that are used to create certain products that need forest resources in order to be created.