Experts have sounded the alarm as an invasive insect that poses a risk to human and animal health has continued to spread in France.
What's happening?
Two "supercolonies" of electric ants have been detected in southern France, leading to major concerns over impacts on the local ecosystem and even the health of humans and animals, The Connexion reported.
France's Office for Biodiversity has warned that, if the spread of electric ants is not stopped, "their arrival could disrupt all of our ecosystem," according to The Connexion.
According to experts, a lack of adequate funding and an excess of bureaucratic red tape have exacerbated concerns.
Why is it important?
Electric ants, also known as little fire ants, are only about two millimeters in size, yet they pose an enormous risk.
"In places that have them, electric ants are a major social, economic, and environmental problem," according to the Invasive Species Council.
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Despite their diminutive size, electric ant bites can send a human into anaphylactic shock, per The Connexion. Additionally, electric ants often bite pets and other animals in the eyes, potentially leading to blindness.
Beyond the health risks to humans and animals, electric ants also threaten the economy and local ecosystems.
"The ants hinder agricultural work by stinging fruit pickers and other farm workers," the Invasive Species Council noted. Further, the presence of electric ants can increase populations of other pests that are harmful to fruit crops.
Though they originally herald from Central and South America, electric fire ants have now spread around much of the globe. The variety found in France is the same as those existing in Israel, which are better able to survive the cold. This has increased their ability to spread into new regions, The Connexion reported.
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$200 or more š° Electric ants are just one example of the many invasive species currently spreading around the world.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, invasive species "can cause costly economic and ecological damage each year including crop decimation, clogging of water facilities and waterways, wildlife and human disease transmissions, threats to fisheries, increased fire vulnerability, and adverse effects for ranchers and farmers."
What's being done about it?
Experts in France have raised red flags over the lack of an adequate response from the government. While an initial grant of around $240,000 was issued to study and eradicate the first "supercolony" of electric ants discovered in France, these resources have proved to be insufficient to address the growing risk, The Connexion reported.
To stop or even slow the spread of electric ants, experts said they need more money as well as faster approval of new eradication techniques. However, as budget concerns have increased in France, experts have found it increasingly difficult to get the funding they need to protect against invasive species such as electric ants, per The Connexion.
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