Fire ants are in Europe and this is why you should be worried

The fire ant is coming to Europe, and it's terrible news! Eighty-eight nests of this invasive and harmful species were discovered near Syracuse, Sicily, in September.

How fire ants ended up in Sicily has yet to be established at this stage. However, scientists assume there is a link between port activity and the intense human presence in Syracuse.

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According to a recent study devoted to the subject, red fire ants had already been discovered among products imported into several European countries, such as Spain, Finland and the Netherlands.

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But this time it is the first real colony of this species discovered in Europe, which was until now hasn't had the pleasure of living alongside fire ants.

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Long absent from the Old Continent, the fire ant has been present in many places on the planet, such as the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, China and Australia.

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“Solenopsis invicta is one of the worst invasive species. It can spread alarmingly quickly,” said one of the study’s authors, Mattia Menchetti, of the Spanish Institute of Evolutionary Biology, quoted by the French news outlet 'L'Express'.

“Finding this species in Italy was a big surprise, but we knew this day would come,” added the researcher.

“We've been waiting for fire ants for thirty years, we said to ourselves that one day they were going to show up and that we wouldn't know what to do. We are there,” underlines Bernard Kaufmann, specialist in biological invasions at the University of Lyon, quoted by 'Les Échos'.

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Europe would also be an extremely favorable terrain for the proliferation of the fire ant: 7% of the surface of the continent and more than 50% of urban areas are suitable for its expansion, notes the study.

Rising temperatures are an aggravating factor: "the global warming expected in current trends will favor the expansion of this invasive ant", deplore the scientists, quoted by 'Les Échos'.

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According to the French publication 'Reporterre', several European metropolises are particularly at risk, such as Paris, London, Barcelona, Rome, or even Amsterdam.

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“It is a species which has a broad ecological balance, it is capable of living near homes, but also in crops. And it is very difficult to eradicate it,” indicated Philippe Nicolas, entomologist at the CNRS, on the French television station 'BFMTV'.

The fire ant “directly attacks different parts of the plant such as the roots, fruits, flowers and stems”, explains Mattia Menchetti in the French journal 'Sciences et Avenir'.

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The same scientist also recalls that it causes a reduction in the diversity of invertebrates and small vertebrates where it is established.

The fire ant does not exclusively attack living things. The researchers also recalled that it attacks crops, as well as electrical and communication equipment.

Philippe Grandcolas, from the French CNRS Institute of Ecology and Environment, summarized the situation on the French television program 'TF1': the fire ant "literally scares away vertebrates in the environments where it is found, which makes these environments almost inaccessible, including for humans."

According to a report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), invasive species of this type cost at least $423 billion each year. A bill linked to the extinctions of plants and animals and the threats to food security they cause.

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In the United States alone, economic losses linked to the presence of the fire ant alone have been estimated at $6 billion.

According to 'Les Éosch', the eradication of the fire ant is already being planned in Italy. The researchers cited by this newspaper call for “coordinated detection efforts” and extensive surveillance on a large geographic scale.