英语科普小知识 美国东南部火蚁正被入侵蚁种取代.docVIP

Invasive crazy ants are displacing fire ants in areas across the southeastern United States, according to researchers at The University of Texas at Austin. Its the latest in a history of ant invasions from the southern hemisphere and may prove to have dramatic effects on the ecosystem of the region. The ecologically dominant crazy ants are reducing diversity and abundance across a range of ant and?arthropod（节肢动物的）?species -- but their spread can be limited if people are careful not to transport them?inadvertently（非故意地）, according to Ed LeBrun, a research associate with the Texas invasive species research program at the Brackenridge Field Laboratory in the College of Natural Sciences ? The study by LeBrun and his colleagues was published in Biological Invasions. ? When you talk to folks who live in the invaded areas, they tell you they want their fire ants back, said LeBrun. Fire ants are in many ways very polite. They live in your yard. They form mounds and stay there, and they only interact with you if you step on their mound. ? LeBrun said that crazy ants, by contrast, go everywhere. They invade peoples homes, nest in crawl spaces and walls, become incredibly abundant and damage electrical equipment. ? The crazy ants were first discovered in the U.S. in 2002 by a pest control operator in a suburb of Houston, and have since established populations in 21 counties in Texas, 20 counties in Florida, and a few sites in southern Mississippi and southern Louisiana. ? In 2012 the species was formally identified as Nylanderia fulva, which is native to northern Argentina and southern Brazil. Frequently referred to as Rasberry crazy ants, these ants recently have been given the official common name Tawny crazy ants. ? The Tawny crazy ant invasion is the most recent in a series of ant invasions from South America brought on by human movement. The Argentine ant invaded through the port of New Orleans in about 1891. In 1918 the black imported fire ant showed up in Mobile, Ala