Charles Luylier (in Albi) / Photo credits: Roslan RAHMAN / AFP 8:00 a.m., April 9, 2024

For two years, a residential area of ​​the city of Albi has been confronted with an invasion of Tapinoma Magnum ants. These North African insects reproduce at breakneck speed, outcompeting other local ants. Worse, they easily invite themselves into homes, making the lives of residents unlivable. 

It is a real nightmare that the inhabitants of a district of Albi are experiencing. In this suburban area of ​​around a hundred homes, a new invader has appeared: the Tapinoma Magnum ant. The area has been facing this unexplained invasion for two years, which according to some, however, finds part of its source in the urbanization of the area as well as drought. But if their arrival is still mysterious, their presence is clearly visible. 

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“It’s an ordeal”

Sophie, who lives in this area, can no longer enjoy her garden: "I have a swimming pool. But as soon as you want to lie down, it gets on top of you. The only small advantage is that for me, they don't fit not in the house", she confides on the microphone of Europe 1. 

But his neighbor cannot say the same. Françoise, who lives in the house next door, spends money on repellent. "For us, it's an ordeal. It costs us dearly. It's at least 50 euros per month! And we can't get rid of it," she despairs. 

Only one solution considered

It must be said that the Tapinoma Magnum is an ant that reproduces exponentially and also attacks houses. “They arrive from the outside and they go inside, digging under the concrete blocks,” Christophe annoys. With his wife Maryline, the couple are at their wits' end in the face of these intrusive neighbors. “If you hit the radiator pipe, they come out and go everywhere. It’s unbearable,” she confides. 

The latter therefore decided to make a radical decision: "We are moving! On May 1st, we will be in another house because we cannot live like that", regrets the Albigenseoise. To avoid a total invasion, the Albi metropolitan area will remove part of the neighborhood's concrete slabs, a veritable ant's nest, by replacing them with green spaces and bitumen.