By Lori McKay -The Weekly News
Ants have marched, one by one, into Susan Horton's life.
First, the Saint Mary's University masters student began to study European fire ants, then she discovered them in her own backyard.
"It was a total coincidence," said Horton, who began working on her study earlier this year. "I was raking up the leaf litter that was left from last autumn, and they were starting to nest under that in April."
She said so far she hasn't been stung, but thinks that could change as she begins to spend more and more time outside.
"People often think they bite, and they do, but it's not the bite that's the problem, it's the sting. They're related to wasps and bees. Not all ants have stingers, but these ones do. You wouldn't even notice the biting, that's just to hold on, then they inject the stinger in."
Horton said she's using the pesky foreign invaders in her yard as part of her study, in a way, and is following her own recommendations of reducing their habitat.
"I haven't actually found any nests because I'm not putting down any material that they could nest under. The nests are there, but they're probably nesting in places that are inaccessible, like under the decking or in my neighbour's yard and then coming over."
The European fire ants, which have become such a concern for Nova Scotia residents, have been spotted in various spots throughout the city.
She said the fire ants are one of 100 North American species of the genus myrmica, many of which look almost identical to the fire ants, and people can't always tell the difference just by looking at them.
"But if they're in the city and there are a lot of them, then there's a good chance that's what they are," said Horton.
They are mainly red in colour, with slightly darker pigmentation on the head. The ants live under stones, fallen trees, and in soil.
She said one of the things she is trying to determine with the study is to decipher a time-line, and something many people don't know is that the ants are not new to Nova Scotia.
"The earliest unconfirmed report I have is 30 years, where someone is saying they used to get stung on a regular basis when they were young," said Horton.
She said one of the reasons they are getting so much attention now is because it takes eight to 10 years for the nests to really mature and the population density becomes high enough that they become aggressive.
She has some recommendations for concerned residents, based on reduction of habitat.
For example, if you have stones in your yard, lift the stones, she said. If they're starting to nest, let the soil dry out and let them move, as they need to stay in the shade and keep moist.
"So if it's hot and dry, they don't like it. If they're spending their time moving their nest around a little bit, they're not going to be spending their time reproducing," she said.
Horton said the focus of her study is on the science surrounding the ants, not pesticide control.
"If they do call a pesticide company, they have to realize it's not elimination, it's just to give them a break. It will kill a number. It might give them less of the ants to deal with, maybe give them back their yard for weeks to months, but they won't get rid of them."
It's the large number of queens in the nest that makes them so difficult to kill.
Horton is just now beginning her field season and encourages the public to contact her with their discoveries. She can be reached at Susan.Horton@smu.ca.
lmckay@hfxnews.ca
