colony of Giant ants found in Melbourne

[Aceyducey]

Well it appears that the doomsayers' worst fears have been realised....

A colony of giant ants has taken control of Melbourne.

The colony of Argentine superants stretches from Taylors Lakes, north-west of Melbourne, to Sorrento, south of the city.
The ants have also been spotted in Altona, in the western suburbs and in Blackburn, in Melbourne's east.

Monash University researcher Elissa Suhr, who discovered the supercolony, said they may look like harmless household pests, but the ants posed a significant risk to Melbourne's biodiversity.

"In Argentina, their native homeland, ant colonies span tens of metres, are genetically diverse and highly aggressive towards one another so population numbers never explode and they are no threat to other plants and animals," she said.

"In Melbourne their genetic make-up and behaviour is really different.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/08/11/1092102503376.html

I blame nuclear fallout from Maralinga and too much VB.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

PS: Yes it's a deliberate misquote....but I only rearranged two words!

[Bill.L]

Hi acey,

Last summer I was stung(not bitten) by one of those bulldog? ants. The ones about 1" long (2.5cm for the young ones). It hurt like nothing that I could describe to the point that I could have bitten my finger off to relieve the pain.

If the argentine ants want to take over their territory THEIR WELCOME.

:)

bye

[Lissy]

My son got bitten by a bullant on the inside of his thigh once.
We'd reached the shops and when I got him out of the car he screamed and cried and said he couldn't walk all the way inside. He kept saying his leg hurt.
So I took him to the toilets, took off his pants and saw this huge bite on his leg. His undies had been rubbing it when he moved. Poor little lamb!
So we sat on the floor of the toilets for a while cuddling, until he stopped crying. Must have looked very funny to people going past! One lady even asked if everything was okay!!
Removed his undies, put his tracksuit pants back on and then he was fine.
Oh, and he was only about 3 at the time, just in case you're wondering!!! :D