Just last year scientists made an estimate about ant populations around the world, saying they believe there are an unfathomable 20 quadrillion of them. That’s 2.5 million ants for every 1 human, with their cry carbon biomass exceeding the weight of all birds and mammals combined. Now invasive ants from abroad have arrived on imported goods in the state of Florida and they’re quickly taking over. Veuer’s Tony Spitz has the details.
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00:00Just last year, scientists made an estimate about ant populations around the world, saying
00:09they believe there are an unfathomable 20 quadrillion of them.
00:13That's 2.5 million ants for every one human, with their dry carbon biomass exceeding the
00:18weight of all birds and mammals combined.
00:21Now invasive ants from abroad have arrived in imported goods in the state of Florida,
00:25and they're quickly taking over.
00:27They're called leaf litter ants, and they're a non-native species.
00:30Experts say that in the last 50 years alone, their populations have doubled in many areas,
00:35prompting a warning that they would soon become the dominant species.
00:38And their viability in Florida is egged on by the fact that rather than killing off other
00:42ant species, they're actually working with them instead.
00:45In a lab study, researchers found that the invasive ants were willing to adopt ants from
00:49other colonies.
00:50Native Floridian ants, however, were far more likely to reject them, with the researchers
00:54writing quote, by accepting and cooperating with ants from various nests, non-native ants
00:59effectively act like a single unified colony over a large landscape.