Yellow crazy ant ANTS Worker ant INFORMATION ON

Yellow crazy ant ANTS Worker ant INFORMATION ON ANTS Ants are living things. They need air, food and water. Ants are insects. They have 3 body parts and 6 legs. Queen ant They are in the same family as wasps and bees. 1 ©Phil Lester The queen ant can lay thousands of eggs a day. Ants go through a number of different stages from egg to adult. They have a 4 stage life-cycle just like the butterfly! Red imported fire ants Eggs hatch into larvae, which moult and grow until they eventually pupate. Adult ants emerge from the pupae Ants are social insects. This means there is a worker caste that forage, tend the young and protect the nest, and one or more queens which lay eggs that develop into new workers, queens and males. Males, mate with he queens then die – they do not perform any other function. Only queens and males can fly, and only for very short distances. An ant that is introduced outside its home range and that damages the natural environment of its new home is called an invasive ant. When invasive ants reach high abundance, they can be a major nuisance in three ways: 1. They farm scale insects, aphids and other honeydew producing bugs, which damage crop plants, reduce yields and spread crop diseases. queen egg + male pupa worker larva Lifecycle image © Arizona Board of Regents / ASU Ask A Biologist Queen ant Worker ants © Sanford Porter 2. They can kill or injure local wildlife including birds, crabs, lizards, insects and can make it difficult for stock animals like pigs and chickens to feed. 3. Many invasive ants sting or bite when disturbed. Stings can form blisters and become infected. Sometimes the ants can grow to such high numbers that people cannot eat, work or sleep because there always ants crawling all over them. 4. Some ants can make their nest in electrical equipment and cause power cuts. Ants perform a number of tasks that are good for the environment. They cycle nutrients in soil and eat the larvae of household pests like flies and cockroaches. Even ants that are introduced outside of their natural range can benefit the environment.

INSECTS INSECT BODY PLANS head thorax abdomen antenna Ant compound eye mandible head thorax abdomen antenna compound eye leg Beetle leg head thorax abdomen Mosquito antenna proboscis wings compound eye Ant © antark. net : Beetle © Tejon Ranch Conservancy : Mosquito © Luciano Cosmo / Shutterstock leg

TARO BEETLE LIFE CYCLE All stages of taro beetle life cycle are found in the soil (the ground) female egg + male pupa larva Taro beetle life cycle images courtesy and © Roy Masamdu. Used with permission of Grahame Jackson of ediblearoids. org

MOSQUITO LIFE CYCLE All stages of the mosquito life cycle, except adults, are found in water Mosquito life stages © Luciano Cosmo / Shutterstock

MYNA BIRDS PROBLEMS Myna birds live closely with humans in places such as farmlands and villages. They are omnivores, this means that they eat both plants and animals. The mynas eat fruits, grains, flower nectar and insects. They also scavenge on street litter and at rubbish dumps. Myna birds damage crops, and extra work is required to protect soft fruits, such as tomatoes, and bananas. Image of jungle myna By J. M. Garg - Own work, CC BY-SA 3. 0, All other images License: Creative Commons 4. 0 BY-NC / pngimg. com

RESPONSIBLE PET OWNERSHIP Promote responsible pet ownership to reduce the number of free-ranging cats and dogs. Encourage people not to feed free-ranging cats and dogs and reduce access to household food waste. Educate people not to abandon pets. Establish cat and dog shelters. Image of Dog cartoon image courtesy of solargaria at Free. Digital. Photos. net, Cat cartoon image courtesy of Stuart Miles at Free. Digital. Photos. net, House 1 image courtesy of unnamed author - http: //pngimg. com/download/17, License: Creative Commons 4. 0 BY-NC, House 2 image courtesy of unnamed author - http: //pngimg. com/download/19, License: Creative Commons 4. 0 BY-NC

INVASIVE PLANTS PROBLEMS Invasive plants impact native species and ecosystems. Other invasive plants can produce chemical substances that affect the germination, growth and reproduction of native plants. Invasive plants can also impact native animals through reduction in the quality and availability of food, shelter and nest, replacing the native forest and with it, habitat for many native animals. Invasive plants may be poisonous or harmful to livestock or humans. Some invasive plant species grow quickly but have a weak root system and are prone to toppling or uprooting in strong winds or heavy rain. This can increase in soil erosion poor water quality, flooding and mud deposits covering reefs or other marine areas. Photo of village by Top 1963 / Tryfon Topalidis, Creative Commons BY-SA 3. 0, Photo of soil erosion by Katharina Helming, CC BY-SA 1. 0, Photo of coral reef by Copyright (c) 2004 Richard Ling, CC BY-SA 3. 0, All other images License: Creative Commons 4. 0 BY-NC / pngimg. com

STOP COCONUT RHINOCEROS BEETLE (CRB) These pests will cause harm to your crops and your environment. If you find these pests, contact your local biosecurity / quarantine IN THE PACIFIC Scientific name: Oryctes rhinoceros © Mark Schmaedick, American Samoa Community College What do they look like? • Adults are around 40 mm long • Different life stages look different • Adult CRB are large black beetles with a distinctive horn and with delicate red-orange hairs on their underside What damage do they cause? • Look for symptoms: zig-zag / diamond cuts in fronds • Holes in the base of the fronds © Aubrey Moore, University of Guam Why are they a problem? • Kill coconut palms – the Palm Killer • Can destroy entire plantations within a year • Reduce crop yield • Financial losses • Hard to control and eradicate (get rid of) How do they get here? • Ships and shipping containers • Agricultural equipment • Construction materials and forestry products • Rotting coconut and plant material © Monica Gruber, Pacific Biosecurity How do we control them? • Remove and break up fallen palm trunks and crowns to reduce breeding sites • Place netting over composting materials to catch beetles • Insect-killing fungi can be used to control them • Pesticides are not recommended as they are costly and impractical Where can we find out more? • Contact your local agriculture department • College of Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Guam website http: //cnas-re. uog. edu/crb/ • Coconut pests website http: //coconutpests © Monica Gruber, Pacific Biosecurity