News in Brief Animals

Invading Argentine ants carry virus that attacks bees

ants

ANT FIGHT  Invasive Argentine ants, shown in a threesome attacking a native New Zealand ant, carry hitchhiking viruses, a new survey says.

Phil Lester

By Susan Milius

- More than 2 years ago

The first survey of viruses in the globally invasive Argentine ant brings both potentially bad and good news.

One of two viruses identified to be actively reproducing in the ants (Linepithema humile) is a known threat to honeybees, says Philip Lester, a community ecologist at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand.