Emily Chan
In 2011, an invasive ant species made its first appearance in New York. Since then, the ants’ range has spread, and now, they’re quickly taking over New York City. Their dominant presence could spell trouble for the city’s tree population.
The species was first discovered when a biologist named Rob Dunn was in town to teach classes at Columbia University. He stepped outside during a break and collected some ants.
After studying them in his lab, he realized that they didn’t match any of the existing ant species, of which there were 13,000 at the time. The insect came to be known as “ManhattAnt.”
Over a decade later, scientists have finally identified the ManhattAnt. It is called Lasius emarginatus, and it arrived from Europe.
So far, the ManhattAnt has made its way out of Manhattan and surged into New Jersey and Long Island at a rate of more than one mile per year.
“We predict that they could expand as far north as Maine and as far south as Atlanta, Georgia,” said Clint Penick, a co-author of the study and a biologist at Auburn University. “This is an ant that could become quite common throughout the East Coast.”
The ManhattAnt isn’t dominant in its native land of Europe. It also isn’t known to adapt to urban areas. So, its commanding presence in New York City is highly unprecedented.
Researchers collect ants to study by sucking them up into small tubes. Then, they examine their physical features and analyze DNA samples to make comparisons with known species. These tests determined that the ManhattAnt was L. emarginatus.
People who aren’t scientists have also reported local sightings of the insect, which help add to the information that experts have on the spread of the species.
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