There’s a war on in America, pitting invasive ant against invasive ant in a fight to the finish. It’s sort of like Alien vs. Predator, in a way, because whoever wins … we lose. Argentine ants (the reigning champions) have wiped out native ant species in many of the environments they’ve invaded over the years, affecting the survival of other animals that used to feed on those ants. Worse, they have a fondness for certain agricultural pests, like aphids. In places with lots of Argentine ants, aphids do very well — and plants do worse.
But now the Argentines are facing a serious challenge in the form of Asian needle ants, another invasive species that — for reasons nobody really understands — have suddenly gone from minor player to major threat in the last decade. The big downside to Asian needle ants: They sting. They sting us. And, right now, it looks like they’re winning.
John Roach tells the story at NBC News. But you can get a good idea of what this matchup looks like by checking out the work of insect photographer Alex Wild. That’s his picture above, showing an Argentine ant on the left and an Asian needle ant on the right.