Investigation of the alarming landings in Sicily – Liberation

“Libbe” announces the warning of scientists about the presence of this invasive species on the Italian island, which is a threat to health and crops. Their arrival highlights the failure of the European biosecurity system.

In the autumn of 2023, in his orchard of fig and orange trees in Avola, restaurateur Gioelli Li Gioi recalls the day he first encountered the pest. “I was gardening when I felt something climb up my calf.”

If we don’t know it, this Sicilian does: the fire ant has arrived in Europe – and probably a long time ago. In September, an article was published in the journal Current Biology Announced the presence of 88 nests near Syracuse. This Monday, January 22, the same researchers confirmed in the same scientific journal that a particularly invasive species has set foot on the southwest coast of the island since at least 2017. A warning for that publication Decided to speak.

A native of South America, the 2 to 6 mm reddish-brown insect, which causes great destruction in the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, China, Japan, and Australia, may be confused with the black ants of our gardens. But the similarity ends there. because Solenopsis invita,

Among the world’s most destructive invasive species