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.
Comments