The red fire ant is recognized as one of the hundred most dangerous invasive species in the world.
A few days ago, nine departments including the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs have jointly launched a national joint prevention and control action for red fire ants to prevent and control the spread of red fire ants and protect agricultural and forestry production, the ecological environment and the safety of people’s lives.
According to the monitoring of the agricultural and rural departments, RIFA has spread to 435 counties (cities, districts) in 12 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities), especially 191 county-level administrative regions where RIFA have occurred in the past 5 years, an increase from 2016 1 times.
The reporter learned that in the Sichuan region, many districts and counties such as Panzhihua City, Liangshan Prefecture, and Luzhou City are also among the RIFA county-level epidemic areas.
Chengdu Commercial Daily-Red Star News Reporter Du Yuquan
Harmful
More than 191 places in Sichuan were listed in 5 years
On March 26, 9 departments including the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs jointly held the launching ceremony of the national RIFA joint prevention and control action in Zengcheng District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, to prevent and control the spread of RIFA, and protect agriculture and forestry production, the ecological environment and people’s lives. .
The relevant person in charge of the Planting Management Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs stated that by seizing the active period of red fire ants in spring and autumn, organizing centralized prevention and control actions, and striving to effectively curb the spread of red fire ants through 3-5 years of management, and reduce the population density of the occurrence area. , To avoid wounding incidents.
The scientific name of the red fire ant is Solenopsis invicta Buren, which means "invincible" ant. It is recognized as one of the hundred most dangerous invasive species in the world.
After being stung, there will be a burning sensation, so it is named because it is difficult to prevent.
This joint prevention and control action has an important relationship with the continuous spread of red fire ants in recent years.
According to the monitoring of the agricultural and rural departments, affected by factors such as the increase in the number of commodity dispatching and suitable climatic conditions, the RIFA has spread to 435 counties (cities, districts) in 12 provinces (regions, cities), especially in the past five years. Ants occurred in 191 county-level administrative districts, which doubled from 2016, and occurred in urban parks, green spaces, farmland, woodland and other public areas.
The reporter learned that many places in Sichuan are also listed as red fire ant endangered areas.
According to an announcement issued by the Sichuan Forestry and Grassland Bureau in April 2020, in 2010, red fire ants were found in Yanbian County, Panzhihua City for the first time in Sichuan. They have now been found in Jiangyang District, Luzhou City, Xichang City, Dechang County, Liangshan Prefecture, and Huizhou City. The emergence of Li County, Ningnan County, East District of Panzhihua City, Renhe District, Yanbian County and other places poses a serious threat to local forestry, agriculture, and public safety.
Someone was nearly killed in a series of wounding incidents
According to the "National Directory of Administrative Regions for the Distribution of Agricultural Plant Quarantine Pests" issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the provinces with the most areas affected by RIFA are coastal provinces such as Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian. A hundred.
In 2020, Red Star News reported several incidents of red fire ants wounding people in Sichuan.
In August 2020, a child in Xichang City, Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province was stabbed by a red fire ant while playing in Qionghai. He fell into a coma and almost died. Fortunately, he was sent to a doctor in time.
Also in Xichang, a woman was also chewed on her foot by a red fire ant.
"Itchy and painful, and a pustule, it is difficult to sleep at night. After almost a month of treatment, the wounds are all healed, but there are many black scars."
In May of that year, a villager in Ashuuda Village, East District of Panzhihua, was attacked by red fire ants while watering a mango tree.
“It hurts from being burned by the claws. Later, I used earthen methods to find smoke oil to smear it to reduce inflammation and relieve pain.” The reporter learned during the interview that many local villagers had been bitten by red fire ants in the field.
Zhao Li, curator of the Huaxi Entomological Museum in Chengdu, has a more detailed understanding of RIFA. According to him, when RIFA attacks people, they will pinch human skin with their upper jaws, and use the claws at the end of their abdomen to sting the human body continuously. Second, the venom is released from the venom sac every time it stings.
According to Zhao Li, after being stung by the red fire ant, the human body feels pain like a fire burn, and there may be blisters like burns afterwards.
Most people only feel pain and discomfort. A few people are allergic to the toxic protein in the venom, which will cause anaphylactic shock and risk death.
Difficult to prevent and control
1. Destroy ecology and reduce biodiversity
Xu Zhenghui, a professor of forest protection and an ant scientist at the Forestry College of Southwest Forestry University, said in an interview that the huge threat of red fire ants lies in the destruction of the ecosystem.
"The red fire ant is very adaptable. In the tropical and subtropical areas, it keeps dividing its family, like an atomic bomb reaction." According to him, after the red fire ant population expands, it will compete with local ants and even other insects. The result is often that the RIFA will not only drive off the local ants, but will even kill the local ants. Some beetles and spiders will also be eaten by them. "If things go on like this, it will cause catastrophic damage to the food chain, and a semi-vacuum of local species will appear. Or vacuum."
According to Zhao Li, curator of the Huaxi Entomological Museum in Chengdu, as an invasive species, the red fire ant has a clear population competitive advantage, and has rapidly developed into a dominant species within a short period of time in new invasive areas, resulting in a reduction in biodiversity and a single ecological environment.
On the other hand, the invasion of red fire ants will greatly reduce the abundance and diversity of local ants.
2. There is no natural enemy in the country, and it has the upper hand in fighting with the same kind
Zhao Li introduced that RIFA is native to South America and has no natural enemies in China.
According to relevant research, RIFA will have the upper hand when meeting most ants, and the exchange ratio of battle damage is often a dozen or twenty.
"In addition to the wild mountainous areas, some native ants, such as mountain ants, can win each other when they conflict with each other. However, in artificial lawns and other vegetation environments, the native ants are cleared, and the red fire ants Invincible, this is also the reason why there are a large number of red fire ants in the green belts of some cities."
3. Fly high and far, spread fast and reproduce fast
Tan Sujin, a doctor of entomology who has been engaged in ant research and prevention for nearly 30 years, said that red fire ants are different from other insects. When flying, they can fly up to 300 meters above the ground and can fly in windy conditions. Five or six kilometers away, it has a very strong natural diffusion capacity.
In addition, it can be spread through logistics, spread through objects, vehicles, etc., and then build nests.
The nests of RIFA are not difficult to find, and it is easy to destroy the nests as a whole. However, their nests are only easy to find after they have formed a large scale, and when the nests are just built, they are relatively hidden in the early stage, which causes "after a wave of extinction," There will be another wave, and then continue to spread, so it will become difficult to control."