A specific species of ant has made New York its home. They have spread across the high buildings in the city.
Before, city residents rarely saw these ants in the high-rise apartments. However, more and more city dwellers began to encounter the ants in their upper-floor residences.
The ants’ scientific name is Lasius emarginatus. They are not from United States, instead, they immigrated from Europe, possibly via ship. It was first found in New York in 2011. In a little more than ten years, they have thrived in New York, and gained a nickname, “ManhattAnt”.
This phenomenon is intriguing to Samantha Kennett, a graduate student at Kennesaw State University in South Georgia, who studies urban ant ecology. She said “My research focuses on understanding how this ant, who is now one of the most common ants in New York City, has
been able to be so successful, surviving in highly urban habitats.”
Most ants live in the soil, but the ManhattAnt live in urban high buildings and has a unique feature of climbing up. Ms. Kennett is curious how high Lasius emarginatus will climb. She initiated an online project called “Project ManhattAnt”, in which New Yorkers will be able to report the locations of their obervings of ants. This will help scientists track the ManhattAnt as it quietly spreads.
Contrary to the other ants, Lasius emarginatus does not eat the cookie crumbs. “This is one of the things that I’m trying to figure out.” Ms. Kennett said “When ants are living in urban habitats, they tend to eat a lot of human foods and they’re able to shift their diets towards more human foods. But this ant, even though it’s living in the most urban habitat, does not appear to be consuming human foods.” The ManhattAnt is famous for its cruelty, eating other insects.
ManhattAnt can be easily killed by Liquid ant baits in a short time. However, powerful ant baits are not recommended for home use.
Jerry Walsh of Mayday Hardware in Prospect Heights said “It’s a little too potent to use indoors because the ant does not drop dead on the spot. They will carry that poison wherever they travel. So, you don’t want that going over your clean dishware. You’ll think that you have a 24-hour stomach virus when indeed what you’re experiencing is a mild case of stomach poisoning.”
Luckily, at this time in July, the ManhattAnts roaming around in the buildings are decreasing. Usually, they are busy searching food from April through June and become less active in July.
Source:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1657469576418x451469103498758800/In%20N.Y.C.%20Apartments%2C%20the%20Ants%20Go%20Marching%20Up%20-%20The%20New%20York%20Times.pdf
Before, city residents rarely saw these ants in the high-rise apartments. However, more and more city dwellers began to encounter the ants in their upper-floor residences.
The ants’ scientific name is Lasius emarginatus. They are not from United States, instead, they immigrated from Europe, possibly via ship. It was first found in New York in 2011. In a little more than ten years, they have thrived in New York, and gained a nickname, “ManhattAnt”.
This phenomenon is intriguing to Samantha Kennett, a graduate student at Kennesaw State University in South Georgia, who studies urban ant ecology. She said “My research focuses on understanding how this ant, who is now one of the most common ants in New York City, has
been able to be so successful, surviving in highly urban habitats.”
Most ants live in the soil, but the ManhattAnt live in urban high buildings and has a unique feature of climbing up. Ms. Kennett is curious how high Lasius emarginatus will climb. She initiated an online project called “Project ManhattAnt”, in which New Yorkers will be able to report the locations of their obervings of ants. This will help scientists track the ManhattAnt as it quietly spreads.
Contrary to the other ants, Lasius emarginatus does not eat the cookie crumbs. “This is one of the things that I’m trying to figure out.” Ms. Kennett said “When ants are living in urban habitats, they tend to eat a lot of human foods and they’re able to shift their diets towards more human foods. But this ant, even though it’s living in the most urban habitat, does not appear to be consuming human foods.” The ManhattAnt is famous for its cruelty, eating other insects.
ManhattAnt can be easily killed by Liquid ant baits in a short time. However, powerful ant baits are not recommended for home use.
Jerry Walsh of Mayday Hardware in Prospect Heights said “It’s a little too potent to use indoors because the ant does not drop dead on the spot. They will carry that poison wherever they travel. So, you don’t want that going over your clean dishware. You’ll think that you have a 24-hour stomach virus when indeed what you’re experiencing is a mild case of stomach poisoning.”
Luckily, at this time in July, the ManhattAnts roaming around in the buildings are decreasing. Usually, they are busy searching food from April through June and become less active in July.
Source:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1657469576418x451469103498758800/In%20N.Y.C.%20Apartments%2C%20the%20Ants%20Go%20Marching%20Up%20-%20The%20New%20York%20Times.pdf
