No evidence for presence of the red imported fire ant in Osaka Nanko area

The red imported fire ants (hereafter refer to as the fire ant), Solenopsis invicta, one of the world’s worst invasive ants, have been discovered in numerous container yards and in-land warehouses at a total of 12 prefectures in Japan since May 2017. Despite intensive survey within various port regions, it remains questionable if field population of the fire ant exists outside the survey perimeter, simply because little attempt has been made. As the invasion of fire ant is believed at very early stage, knowledge of this invasive ant such as geographic distribution in Japan is urgently needed as delimitation of an invasive species’ distribution is key to eradication success. Supported by RISH Mission 1 research grant, my lab has conducted a detailed survey for the presence of fire ant within areas located in close proximity of the Osaka Nanko Port, one of the seaports with reported fire ant infestations. Here I reported results of the survey effort.