State of Israel
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
Office of the Spokesperson of the Ministry
October 30, 2012
14 of Heshvan 5773
th
REL. 690/12
Press Release
Sunflower Seeds and an Ant...
A new ant that does not exist in Israel, which belongs to the
fire ant family, almost "made aliya" in a shipment of
sunflower seeds.
The fear at the Ministry of Agriculture: harm to humans from the ant’s sting and
ecological damage to plants and animals
Past experience shows: The insect Maladera insanabilis “made aliya” in the 1980s into
Israel and disrupted the whole ecological balance. We all remember the swarms of
Maladera insanabilis from that period. Only after years did the beetle have natural
enemies in the ecological chain, which reduced its distribution in Israel.
Unlike other species, which have biological equilibrium, the new species that is “making aliya”
to Israel has no natural enemy in the food chain. In such cases, the insects multiply without
any natural ability to control the population. The result is a population of insects that “eats but
is not eaten”, causing irreversible damage to flora and fauna in Israel. Eating the plants
causes damage to agricultural crops and harms the variety of wild vegetation in Israel, and
there is a good chance that they will become plant pests, causing damage to agriculture and
vegetation in Israel.
Damage to wild vegetation may result in the extinction of indigenous plant species. Local
animals, birds and mammals that live off these species cannot survive and disappear. This
means that the penetration of a new insect species may cause irreversible ecological damage
that cannot be quantified.
Maccabim Road, Rishon le Zion, P.O. Box 30 Beit Dagan, ZIP 50250, Tel. 03-9485436,
Fax: 03-9485782
The ministry's new website: www.moag.gov.il
Government portal: www.gov.il
State of Israel
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
Office of the Spokesperson of the Ministry
A few days ago, inspectors of the Plant Protection and Inspection Services of the
Ministry of Agriculture found in an inspection of a shipment of edible sunflower seeds that
had arrived from the USA unfamiliar ants. The Ministry’s inspectors collected the ants and
sent them for classification at Tel Aviv University. The suspicions of the quarantine inspectors
were found to be justified – the classification soon emerged as ants of a species belonging to
the great fire ant family – Formicidae: Myrmicinae: Solenopsis sp., which does not exist in Israel.
The great fire ant is considered as an invasive scourge, causing major damage to agriculture
and humans in the southeastern United States. Most ants bite (like a snake) humans or
animals, and secrete onto the resulting wound formic acid that causes skin irritation. The fire
ant stings and pushes under the skin an alakaloid toxin called solenopsin. This substance
causes intense pain and soreness that is similar to the pain caused by a burn. This leads to
the expression fire ant. This sting can be lethal to humans who are allergic to the toxin
solenopsin.
The great fire ant feeds off young plants and seeds, reducing field crop yields. Sometimes
they attack small animals such as birds and newborn calves, killing them.
Because of the great fire ant’s survivability, the damage that it causes to agriculture and
humans and the difficulty in exterminating it, this ant is considered as an extremely important
invasive species.
The container containing the infested seeds was sealed and sent back to its country of origin.
Past experience shows that the smuggling of various insect species disrupts the ecological
balance to the point of harming humans. As an example, the Maladera insanabilis insect did
not exist in Israel in the 1980s until it made “aliya”, disrupting the ecological balance. We may
recall swarms of Maladera insanabilis, which besides the discomfort they caused to humans,
disrupted the whole food chain in nature. For many years, the beetle had no natural enemy in
the ecological chain and it reproduced disproportionately. Only after years did the beetle have
natural enemies in the ecological chain, which reduced its distribution in Israel.
Maccabim Road, Rishon le Zion, P.O. Box 30 Beit Dagan, ZIP 50250, Tel. 03-9485436,
Fax: 03-9485782
The ministry's new website: www.moag.gov.il
Government portal: www.gov.il
State of Israel
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
Office of the Spokesperson of the Ministry
Best regards,
Dafna Yurista
Spokesperson of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
Maccabim Road, Rishon le Zion, P.O. Box 30 Beit Dagan, ZIP 50250, Tel. 03-9485436,
Fax: 03-9485782
The ministry's new website: www.moag.gov.il
Government portal: www.gov.il