A new home of electric ants discovered in the Var

It was the owner of a holiday home in La Croix-Valmer who alerted the authorities after spotting bites on his children, reveals France Inter.

A second outbreak of electric ants was discovered in the Var, reveals France Inter, Monday November 18. In 2022, the ant was spotted for the first time in Toulon. This time, the outbreak was identified at Croix-Valmer. The two homes are not necessarily linked to each other.

The electric ant is orange-yellow, tiny, and its sting has the effect of a shock, as confirmed by Frédéric, who has a vacation home in the department. His garden is infested with electric ants, it was he who raised the alarm after spotting bites on his children described as “painful“, “extremely irritating, like an electric shock“. Ants “annoying for everyday life“since we are”obliged to check where we sit, where we stand“, he explains.

Native to South and Central America, the electric ant is one of the most invasive species in the world. Worried, Frédéric therefore called on Olivier Blight, an ant specialist at the University of Avignon. He states that this species is “probably arrived here through the ornamental plant trade“and she is in the process”to spread in Europe“. “It is one of the worst species that can be found in the world.he explains, since it causes very significant damage to biodiversity“.

The specialist takes the example of New Caledonia where, when you walk in a forest invaded by the electric ant: “We no longer hear insects, we no longer hear many birds“. “Either they leave the area because they are disturbed or they are eliminated by the electric ant“, he adds.

Since 2022, the electric ant has been classified as an invasive alien species of concern by the European Union.