Source: Discover Life-ONU/ISSG.
It proliferates in an extraordinary way in areas disturbed by man and is at present invading the whole World thanks to him.
The LFA has been ranked in the World Top 10 of Invasive Species by international specialists, far above more famous pests like the migratory locust.
It is not by chance, everything is excessive with this species:
There are few detailed infestation maps, most are unknown (Gabon, New-Caledonia, Vanuatu, Israel, etc.)
We present here those we have been able to get.
Source: Discover Life-ONU/ISSG.
It originates from Central America where it doesn't proliferate in the wild.
The ISSG has made a site on Invasive Species. We have translated the main information about this ant into French, here.
Recent studies shown that all the queens are clones
(Clonal reproduction by males and females in the little fire ant. Denis Fournier et al. Nature Vol. 435 : 1230-1234 (2005).
and
Site du CNRS: Guerre des sexes chez une fourmi : reproduction clonale des mâles et des reines)
This may explain why, even if winged, nobody has ever seen one flying: The principal aim of the nuptial swarm is to select the most genetically robust pairs. It has no interest if all are clones.
The worldwide invasion is thus due to man only.
The LFA has been invading Tahiti since early 90's.
Its introduction certainly went unnoticed at start.
As soon as our Press broadcasted the disaster (Les Nouvelles de Tahiti, 12 October 2004, p.9) some Fenua Animalia activists and private citizens started to relay the alert and to try - alone and without resources - to compile a contaminated areas inventory.
This work ran for more than eight months without any official reaction. The Agriculture Ministry was said to have taken charge of this catastrophe from the month of April 2005. Since, that is to say more than a year after, the inventory work had stopped. An emergency cleaning attempt organized by this Ministry happened during July and August 2005, on the basis of our results, but nothing has been done after. The Agriculture Ministry recently announced in October 2006 that it has discharged itself of this burden in January 2006.
The tiny Environment Ministry started then to take this burden and do its best with the light attributed grants and external private supports...
For those wondering about the speed of colonies discoveries since the first alert, here is a PowerPoint file just spotting it on Tahiti's map, in chronological order.
The situation on fields today is more dramatic than in 2004.
*****
The set of all GPS waypoints registered since the first detection has been exported from the Polynesian Environment GIS (= Geographical Informatic System) in a file which automatically transfers its content in the GoogleEarth freeware (kmz files).
For those who installed this software on their machine, following links under will open GoogleEarth, and put datas in the "Temporary Places" folder (left side of the Google Earth window). You will be able to either place it in your "Preffered Places", or to save it onto your hard disk (option available with a right clic on the loaded folder, in "Temporary places").
Like often, the way that our SIG places dots in its maps is not the same as in Google Earth, this leads a gap of some meters to some dozen of meters occurring between both. Thus, these files give false results when examinated with a great accuracy, all the more when in altitude, but it gives a good idea of what is running on Tahiti.
Each of these annual segments is subdivided in 3 parts : Tests (pooling) - Surfaces (contaminated) - Treaitments (terrestrials and aerials). Each ant its subdivisions may be expanded in sub-folders (the + sign before the name) which can be indépendently activated (checkboxes).
Double-clicking successively on each name in the "colonies connues" sub-folder makes you fly above one to the other.
Datas of each year are not repeated in following ones, these files are thus complementary:
Tests red dots are LFA positive, green ones are safe, other colors are for uncertain cases (no ants, test lost, etc.)
For those who can't use it, here is an other PowerPoint taking its main up to 2007: PFF2005-2007.pps (5.7 Mb, of March 16, 2008)
We have now 100 known colonies.
Distribution: PFF-ListeColonies.pdf (160 Ko, version November 11, 2009 ; pk = kilometric point)
That is more than 600 hectares "flat", e.g. on map, without taking topography slopes in account, and spreaded across 10 communes.
For those unable to use Google Earth, a presentation, and views by commune extracted from this software are available at the communes page, this to enhance the loading of this one.
Despite the disappointingly low surface areas studied to date, the total contamination area in French Polynesia is just above 600 hectares.
According to different ISSG searchers, the threshold of irreversible is between 100 and 500 hectares depending on the climate and the topography of contaminated areas.
This limit, on Tahiti Island, is thus either already reached or very close to be.
On December 15, 2006, La Dépêche de Tahiti newspaper reported that four catamaran ships have been quarantined in Uturoa's harbour on Raiatea Island after that Biosecurity agents, the Département de la Protection des Végétaux, found LFA in the inside of the floats.
These ships were comming from Ahonu Valley, Mahina.
This event starkly proves that whole Polynesia is permantently under threat and that constant vigilance is vital:
How many deliveries happened on other Islands since early 1990's?
Good news is, for now, that:
The situation is thus not totally lost, however it is extremely critical.
LFA have been detected in the suburbs of Smithfield and Kewarra Beach, about 10 miles North of Cairns centre (Queensland). An eradication program is underway at these sites.
The contamination is rather small, but its dispersal is already consistent in this area.
Datas shown here are partial.
More details are available on the Queensland Biosecurity website.
2007 known situation:
Source: Biosecurity Queensland (comm. pers.)
To see this closer under Google Earth, if you have it installed, open this kewarra.kmz (2 Kb).
LFA were discovered on Maui and Big Island.
It seems that the incursion on Maui Island is now eradicated.
Known situation in 2006:
Source: USGSC (comm. pers.)
To see this closer under Google Earth, if you have it installed, open this hawaii.kmz (3 Kb).
Known situation in 2000:
Source: Institute of Food and Agricultural Science - University of Florida.
2008 known situation:
The Israel contamination discovery date from 2004, e.g. exacty at the same time as Polynesia.
Situation is tricky, first because the origin of the contamination was the country greatest sawmill which broadcasted its products everywhere and, second, because the Little Fire Ant don't care about human frontiers, and war situations can only profit.
The Jordan River is a very strong dispersal vehicle, comming in plus of human activities.
We have no data on the situation in Jordan's Valley South-Lebanon, nor in Jordania:
Source: Personnal communication.
See also: AcideFormik / Haaretz Israel News - April 30, 2009
To see in GoogleEarth : Israel2008.kmz (6 Kbs)