<story><title>Ants are as Effective as Pesticides</title><url>http://scitech.au.dk/en/roemer/5-2015/ants-are-as-effective-as-pesticides/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>lutorm</author><text>It seems defining what &amp;quot;native&amp;quot; means on Hawaii is a bit sketchy. Clearly &lt;i&gt;no&lt;/i&gt; animals were on the islands when they first were created, so everything is more or less &amp;quot;invasive&amp;quot;.&lt;p&gt;Speaking of ants that live in trees, the Big Island is being overrun by the Little Fire Ant, which has already spread across much of the rainy side. I&amp;#x27;m sure it protects the trees from pests, too, but in this case that unfortunately also includes humans. They have a nasty bite, and are very hard to control, which is making farming in infested areas hell. &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;littlefireants.com&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;littlefireants.com&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt;</text></item><item><author>ggchappell</author><text>Just a wee bit off-topic, but:&lt;p&gt;The situation with the native species of Hawaii is actually much worse than most people are aware -- even people who live in Hawaii. I read somewhere[1] that, if you walk around a typical coastal town in Hawaii, and look at the lawns &amp;amp; gardens &amp;amp; parks, and watch the birds &amp;amp; whatnot, that you will generally not see &lt;i&gt;any native species at all&lt;/i&gt;. The ones big enough to see are all confined to the interior.&lt;p&gt;EDIT. And, by the way, the rats weren&amp;#x27;t native, either. Hawaii has exactly two native mammals: the Hawaiian Hoary Bat and the Hawaiian Monk Seal.&lt;p&gt;[1] I think it was in &lt;i&gt;Remains of a Rainbow&lt;/i&gt;, by D. Liittschwager &amp;amp; S. Middleton. &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;amazon.com&amp;#x2F;dp&amp;#x2F;0792264126&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;amazon.com&amp;#x2F;dp&amp;#x2F;0792264126&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt;</text></item><item><author>gnufrra</author><text>Biological pest control is not a silver bullet. We have a history littered with biological pest control disasters. These studies need to take into account effect on native biodiversity. For example Hawaii introduce mongoose to control rats as it turn out they will kill native birds more than the rats.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>hyperbovine</author><text>&amp;gt; so everything is more or less &amp;quot;invasive&amp;quot;.&lt;p&gt;That&amp;#x27;s simply not true. I&amp;#x27;m not so familiar with the fauna of Hawaii, but you can consider the moa which was happily ensconced in New Zealand for about 20 million years, and extinct within 200 years of the Polynesian settlement in the late 13th century. It&amp;#x27;s pretty clear to me in a situation like that what was native and who the invaders were, and I&amp;#x27;d be surprised if the situation in Hawaii were very different.</text></comment>
<story><title>Ants are as Effective as Pesticides</title><url>http://scitech.au.dk/en/roemer/5-2015/ants-are-as-effective-as-pesticides/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>lutorm</author><text>It seems defining what &amp;quot;native&amp;quot; means on Hawaii is a bit sketchy. Clearly &lt;i&gt;no&lt;/i&gt; animals were on the islands when they first were created, so everything is more or less &amp;quot;invasive&amp;quot;.&lt;p&gt;Speaking of ants that live in trees, the Big Island is being overrun by the Little Fire Ant, which has already spread across much of the rainy side. I&amp;#x27;m sure it protects the trees from pests, too, but in this case that unfortunately also includes humans. They have a nasty bite, and are very hard to control, which is making farming in infested areas hell. &lt;a href=&quot;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;littlefireants.com&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;littlefireants.com&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt;</text></item><item><author>ggchappell</author><text>Just a wee bit off-topic, but:&lt;p&gt;The situation with the native species of Hawaii is actually much worse than most people are aware -- even people who live in Hawaii. I read somewhere[1] that, if you walk around a typical coastal town in Hawaii, and look at the lawns &amp;amp; gardens &amp;amp; parks, and watch the birds &amp;amp; whatnot, that you will generally not see &lt;i&gt;any native species at all&lt;/i&gt;. The ones big enough to see are all confined to the interior.&lt;p&gt;EDIT. And, by the way, the rats weren&amp;#x27;t native, either. Hawaii has exactly two native mammals: the Hawaiian Hoary Bat and the Hawaiian Monk Seal.&lt;p&gt;[1] I think it was in &lt;i&gt;Remains of a Rainbow&lt;/i&gt;, by D. Liittschwager &amp;amp; S. Middleton. &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;amazon.com&amp;#x2F;dp&amp;#x2F;0792264126&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;amazon.com&amp;#x2F;dp&amp;#x2F;0792264126&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt;</text></item><item><author>gnufrra</author><text>Biological pest control is not a silver bullet. We have a history littered with biological pest control disasters. These studies need to take into account effect on native biodiversity. For example Hawaii introduce mongoose to control rats as it turn out they will kill native birds more than the rats.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>oh_sigh</author><text>They are native, because they existed in no other place than Hawaii. The species literally did not exist until Hawaii made it so. The first species to come to Hawaii were invasive.</text></comment>