Florida State Researcher Defends Fire Ants

Walter Tschinkel, a Florida State University myrmecologist, a biologist who specializes in ants, uses a vacuum cleaner to harvest ants for his study, Thursday, June 8, 2006, in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Phil Coale) (Phil Coale - AP)

To Tschinkel, though, fire ants are just another opportunistic species.

"They are less invasive than we are," he said.

Like humans, they migrated to North America. Native to Argentina and Brazil they had made their way to Mobile, Ala., by 1930, apparently stowing away in ships' cargo. They have since spread across the Southeast and most recently to California.

That's been just fine for Tschinkel.

"If I had worked on any number of native ants I think work like that would have been difficult if not impossible," he said.

Native ants are harder to find because they don't like disturbed areas, such as plowed fields and lawns, while fire ants thrive there.

"Humans make habitat for fire ants and fire ants are very abundant and, therefore, I'm provided with abundant research material," Tschinkel said. "My favorite phrase is `Man is fire ants' best friend.'"

Tschinkel has made some fascinating discoveries. For instance, several queens often establish a single colony, but worker ants execute all except one of the queens. He also has observed nearby colonies stealing each others' larvae and eggs, known as brood raiding.

Tschinkel, who has been stung hundreds of times, said he wants simply to advance science, not to find ways to get rid of the insects. Yet the USDA has paid for some of his research, and Vander Meer said any fire ant research helps those trying to control them.

"Walter has added tremendously to our knowledge," he said. "So, we thank Walter."

His latest project is testing a key theory in fire ant suppression _ that they compete with other ants and, therefore, can be controlled by helping native species gain ground. The theory is not holding up as the experiment enters its third and final year, Tschinkel said.

He has staked out plots in the Aplachicola National Forest and a cattle ranch. Some are left undisturbed while others are mowed or plowed. Fire ants are removed from some plots and transplanted to others while the rest are left untouched.