The forests of Ethiopia are teeming with a supercharged ant that is poised to invade the globe, new research suggests. The infamous ant species, Lepisiota canescens, is demonstrating the behavior needed for supercolony formation and for global invasion — (insect world domination, anyone? But about 20 different ant species — think of them as the Romans or the Incas of the insect world — have their sights set on building an empire. Sorger's team was surveying ant species in Ethiopia when they found that L. canescens was showing some of the hallmarks of supercolony formation — namely, an ability to expand without any constraints. Even stranger, its rapidly expanding population and aggressive expansionist behavior are more typical of invasive species, the researchers wrote in the journal article.

Source: Ethiopian News November 23, 2016 11:34 UTC