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)

"Removing the fire ants made no difference whatsoever to the co-occurring ants," Tschinkel said. "What was hammering the native ants was ecological disturbance."

Tschinkel's book, meanwhile, has received a glowing review from The New York Times, which praised the interludes for offering "a real glimpse of what science is and how it is done."

Harvard professor emeritus E.O. Wilson, who won a Pulitzer Prize with co-author Bert Holldobler in 1991 for "The Ants," wrote the foreword. He called "The Fire Ants" a "masterpiece" and "example of how future biology will be written."

Tschinkel shares the credit with the creatures he loves.

"They have provided me with an almost endless opportunity to engage my curiosity and to delve into the secrets of their lives," he said. "I like them in that sense. They're not cuddly."

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On the Net:

Walter Tschinkel biography: http://www.bio.fsu.edu/faculty-tschinkel.php