INVASIVE LITTLE FIRE ANTS PREFER COOKED BEEF, SEEDS OVER TUNA

HONOLULU, Sept. 14 -- The University of Hawaii issued the following news release:

If you are trying to detect or bait little fire ants in your backyard, scientists at the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa suggest swapping tuna for cooked beef and sunflower seeds.

The study, published in the Journal of Applied Entomology, by researchers at the UH Manoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience (CTAHR) revealed that the little fire ant's (Wasmannia auropunctata) preferred diet is not what scientists and homeowners previously thought. In laboratory food-choice tests, the tiny, stinging pests overwhelmingly chose cooked beef and sunflower seeds over water-packed tuna.

One of the world's most damaging invasive species

The findin...