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and creeps as fast as she can back to the food. They’ll work
together to bring the food back or go get more sisters to carry
over to help.
Like ninjas, Asian needle ants are masters of disguise and
sometimes sneak into other ants’ nests undetected, killing
workers. They steal back to their own nests with ant bodies in
their mandibles. Then the feast begins.
Their Covert Operation
The Asian needle ant ninja army has a stealthy mission worthy of
our attention: to steadily disassemble forests across the United
States. When Asian needle ants move into a forest, other ant
species like winnow ants, acrobat ants, little black ants, and thief
ants all pack their bags and move out, pulling the forest apart at
the seams. Asian needle ants make life miserable for other
species. They eat them or their food and take up space native
species use for nesting.
“Why should we care if a few ant species go missing?” you might
ask. “All ants do is ruin my picnic! We could do with fewer of
them anyway!” Let’s take a closer look.
Picture a car factory where everybody has his or her special job.
One person puts on the windshield wipers, another the wheels,
while another is responsible for the engine and another adds the
finishing touches like door handles. They all work together to
build a beautiful, well-oiled machine. Suppose one day the
company hires a new employee to add a new gadget in the car.
This employee gets paid a lot of money, so much money the
company has to lay off the windshield wiper person, the wheel
person, and the engine person. They even kick out the door
handle guy.
Here’s the problem: While this new employee is really good at
gadgets, he doesn’t know anything about engines or door
handles. You can forget the windshield wipers and wheels. What
kind of car will this car factory produce without its employees?
One that won’t even roll!
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