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By GABRIEL FITO
A NEW species of ants that can cause painful stings on human beings and
blindness in pets and livestock has been discovered in one of the
densely populated suburbs of Wewak, East Sepik province.
And the National Agriculture Quarantine Inspection Authority Office in
Wewak have begun a pest alert campaign yesterday with posters and
messages through the media for people to report any sightings of these
ants so that they can be prevented from spreading.
The ant which is known as “little fire ant” or Wasmannia auropunctata is
a tiny reddish golden brown ant that can dominate a wide range of
environment.
A colony of these little fire ants was first sighted by the National
Agriculture Quarantine Inspection Authority officers in Wewak at Kreer
Heights early this year.
These ants are also found in New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna Islands,
Tahiti, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Bougainville in Papua New Guinea
and now East Sepik after it was introduced two years ago.
NAQIA officers believed that this new specie of ants was introduced by
someone who must have travelled from Bougainville to Wewak with banana
suckers, flowers or orchids without properly checking to ensure that he
was not carrying the ants across.
The ants measuring between 1mm and 1.5mm in length are not aggressive
compared to other ant species but will sting when provoked or
threatened.
The stings are painful and can cause blindness in pests and livestock if
repeatedly exposed to stings.
Meanwhile, two ants specialist from New Zealand and Fiji have arrived in
Wewak on Wednesday and are working on the site where the ants have been
found in a bid to kill the existing colonies so that they do not spread
to other areas.
 
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