Trading long-legged crazy ants and harvester ants as pets: a top-100 invasive species could endanger agriculture in Taiwan, China
The pets kept by people in Taiwan, China, are wonderfully varied. Besides beetles and lizards, keeping ants has become popular in recent years. Yet some vendors actually sell an invasive alien species, the "long-legged crazy ant," and the "harvester ant," much loved by hobbyists for its diligence in collecting seeds, has also been described by the Forestry Bureau as a species that may harm crops. However, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine only regulates some harmful organisms, ants are not conservation-listed animals either, and the Wildlife Conservation Act does not apply. Last year the Forestry Bureau's published blacklist banning imports included only the red imported fire ant, creating a no-man's-land of overlapping gaps and highlighting the problems of alien species control.
Harvester ants may harm crops (photo provided by Professor Yang Jing-cheng)
Forestry Bureau: Harvester ants have strong reproductive capacity; if released into the wild, control costs could be considerable
Lin Tsung-chi, associate professor in the Department of Biology at National Changhua University of Education, who has long studied ants, says harvester ants live in temperate countries such as Western Europe, China and the United States. Taiwan is not part of their range, which also means they may have no natural enemies in Taiwan; once introduced they could get out of control, and some colonies of the rough harvester ant (Messor barbarus) are polygynous, with even stronger reproductive capacity.
Research by the Forestry Bureau once noted: "Most ants used as pet insects have traits such as drought tolerance, strong adaptability and ease of reproduction. If controls are not put in place early, and if someone releases them into the wild or they escape and become established in Taiwan, the losses caused and the increased control costs required would likely be considerable."
At present the most serious invasive ant in the world is none other than the red imported fire ant. It not only damages buildings, its venom can even send allergic people into fatal shock. In the United States alone it causes at least 5 billion US dollars in losses each year. Since it was discovered in Taiwan in 2003, a budget of 100 million has been allocated annually for its control.
Yang Jing-cheng, a professor in the Plant Medicine Program at National Taiwan University who studies the red imported fire ant, says most ants need a "nuptial flight" before they can mate, similar to the way termites swarm around when rain is near, so hobbyists find it relatively hard to breed them. Harvester ants, however, can mate directly inside the nest, and some ants can even reproduce by "parthenogenesis," producing the next generation without mating at all. Once introduced and then escaped, they would have a major impact on the ecosystem.
Skirting the edge of the law, the ant trade becomes a no-man's-land
Because pet ants are so popular, in recent years there have been not only online vendors but also bricks-and-mortar stores, yet there are no corresponding domestic regulations, making this a major loophole in alien species control.
Under the Plant Protection and Quarantine Act administered by the Council of Agriculture's Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, Article 15 stipulates that harmful organisms may not be imported unless they are for approved experiments, research, teaching or exhibitions.
The Wildlife Conservation Act under the Forestry Bureau stipulates that alien species imported into Taiwan for the first time must submit relevant data assessing their impact on domestic animals and plants. The import and export of live animals must also undergo quarantine, and conservation-listed animals may not be traded without the consent of the competent authority. For cultural, health, ecological protection or policy needs, the Forestry Bureau may ask trade authorities to announce a ban on the import or export of wild animals or their products.
The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine is the first checkpoint for quarantine, but what counts as a "harmful organism" is determined by the bureau itself. Zou Hui-juan, head of the bureau's Plant Quarantine Division, says some alien ant genera have already been listed as harmful organisms; importing them can bring a fine of 30,000 to 150,000. Once assessed as harmless, they fall under the Forestry Bureau's jurisdiction, but imports must go through quarantine procedures, otherwise it is illegal smuggling, and if the public discovers it they can report it to the bureau. As for alien ants already present, the bureau will work with the Forestry Bureau to jointly assess the harm to plants.
Lin Kuo-chang, section chief of the Forestry Bureau's Wildlife Conservation Section, says plants are mainly under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, while the Forestry Bureau handles animals, but with as many as 1.5 million species worldwide, it is impossible to ban them all. On last year's announced ecological blacklist, the only ant listed was the red imported fire ant. If alien species really do cause harm, the only option is remediation after the fact to remove them, and the trade in live animals must invoke commercial regulations.
Yang Jing-cheng says the red imported fire ant was brought in through international trade. The quarantine process for alien species is extremely strict. Previously, when introducing natural enemies of the red imported fire ant for research, one had to submit a risk assessment, report storage locations to the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, report personnel entering and leaving, report usage and remaining quantities, monitor monthly for any ants escaping, and finally destroy them together with the bureau. Ordinary businesses find this very hard to do, and most have not gone through quarantine.
Yen Sheng-hung, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at National Sun Yat-sen University, points out that the harmful organisms recognized under the Plant Protection and Quarantine Act mostly have to harm crops, "the things people eat." Non-industrial harm and work involving ecological protection fall under the Forestry Bureau's jurisdiction. But alien species that do not eat crops and are not recognized by the Forestry Bureau as wild animals become impossible to regulate. Flaws in the design of the law have created many loopholes for alien species. Nowadays many ants from China can also be bought on the Chinese shopping site "Taobao," and the government should pay attention to this problem.(To continue reading, please click here)