Gardeners warned on pest threat Crazy ants hit suburbs
AN ACID-SPRAYING ant classed as one of Australia’s most invasive pests is living in four locations across Townsville, with one infestation now close to homes.
The Invasive Species Council, in a presentation to Townsville City Council, revealed the four known yellow crazy ant infestations in Townsville cover an area of 100 to 150 hectares although the full extent of the incursion is not fully known.
It is understood the infestations are in an industrial area at Mount St John, on a property in Black River, in Nome and at a Douglas site.
The yellow crazy ant is a highly aggressive pest that infiltrated Queensland borders from Southeast Asia through ports.
The ant doesn’t bite and instead sprays enemies with formic acid. Yellow crazy ants also live in “super colonies” and can form rafts that help them travel on moving water.
According to Townsvillebased Yellow Crazy Ant Community Taskforce coordinator Bev Job, the Douglas incursion is within a “quite large patch” parallel to the Ring Road.
The ants are understood to be inside a tunnel that runs from James Cook University and can “quite easily” find their way into the bordering residential area.
Dogs trained to sniff out the pest are understood to have been sent into other areas like Elliot Springs.
Invasive Species Council chief executive Andrew Cox said Townsville residents needed to be wary of not spreading the ant through green waste, illegal dumping, soil movement, and other gardening activities.
Yellow crazy ants, unlike the red imported fire ant, have not spread too widely so as to make eradication unviable, said Mr Cox.
The Yellow Crazy Ant Eradication Program was allocated $9.2 million over three years by the Federal Government in its recent budget.
Yellow crazy ants have caused a cascade of ecological effects on Christmas Island, and at their peak abundance temporarily blinded a Queensland cane farmer with their acid spray.
If left unchecked, the pest could potentially cause devastating long-lasting harm to the agriculture industry, damage native wildlife, upend ecosystems and hurt the tourism industry.