Red Imported Fire Ants: A threat to eastern Australia's wildlife?

Abstract

The discovery of the Red Imported Fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) in Brisbane on 22 February 2001 sent shock waves through urban and rural communities alike. This article is an attempt to address the often repeated question ‘What will become of Australia's unique fauna if they spread along Australia's eastern seaboard?

Eradication of two incursions of the Red Imported Fire Ant in Queensland, Australia

“…). Two incursions of Red Imported Fire Ant were discovered in Brisbane, south‐east Queensland, in 2001 (Moloney & Vanderwoude ); one in Yarwun, central Queensland, in 2006; one at the Port of Gladstone, central Queensland, in 2013; and one at Port Botany, Sydney, New South Wales, in 2014 (not covered in this paper). All incursions were genetically distinct and unrelated to one another: three of the four Queensland incursions originated from separate populations from the southern United States (Ascunce et al .…”

The potential distribution of the red imported fire ant,Solenopsis invictaBuren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), in New Zealand

“…An eradication programme is currently still in progress for the third incursion, at Whirinaki, north of Napier (2006). Fire ants are considered to have a very high likelihood of continued introduction into New Zealand (MAF 2002), and have the potential to impact negatively on human health, agriculture and the environment (Vinson 1997;Moloney & Vanderwoude 2002). Although much is being done to mitigate the risk of S. invicta establishing in New Zealand, relatively little is known about the potential distribution of S. invicta in New Zealand if it becomes established.…”

Effect of Broadcast Baiting on Abundance Patterns of Red Imported Fire Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and Key Local Ant Genera at Long-Term Monitoring Sites in Brisbane, Australia

“…S. invictaÕs introduced range currently includes the southern United States (Callcott and Collins 1996), Mexico (Sanchez-Pena et al 2005), the Caribbean (Davis et al 2001, Wetterer andSnelling 2006), Taiwan (Chen et al 2006, Yang et al 2009), China (Zhang et al 2007), and Australia (Moloney and Vanderwoude 2002). A small number of S. invicta colonies have been detected and successfully eradicated in New Zealand (Pascoe 2002).…”