• news
  • SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 4 2005 1:00 PM

Ants Use iPod To Hitch A Ride To New Zealand

Submitted by mat8drb

Edited by bean

The iPod is a fashion icon, and a damn useful device. But none of us had pegged it as a transportation vessel, helping some evil insects hitch a ride to New Zealand.

A report on the Pestnet discussion forum reveals that an innocent Kiwi returning from Fiji to New Zealand bought an iPod in a duty-free zone at the homebound airport. What he didn't know until he got home was that the packaging was infested with Monomorium destructor, aka Singapore ants.

The trouble with M. destructor is that besides being a stinging ant (though not particularly dangerous to humans), it's also a serious pest because it builds large colonies in homes and other buildings. The worker ants prey on other insects and can chew holes in fabrics, plastics and rubber goods, including the insulation of telephone or electrical wires.



These little blighters could have brought disaster to New Zealand, which relies on food production and commodities for trade with other countries. Fortunately, both the country's economy and the iPod were saved.

When the owner of the iPod discovered the product's packaging seemed too lively, he got in touch with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, which hit on a scheme that would kill the ants yet, with luck, not the iPod: put them in the freezer overnight. The low temperatures would kill them. The iPod did indeed work afterwards, as the iPod can survive the -20C of a freezer, while ants can't.



See more of the little blighters here.

  • PERMALINK
  • PRINT
  • Digg This
  • Email To A Friend
 
Comments
MisterSatan

MisterSatan

Portland, OR
August 2002

SEP 04, 2005 01:25 PM

Anyone seen Olivia lately?

harden

harden

Germany
OLD SKOOL

SEP 04, 2005 01:31 PM

I had the same problem the last two weeks. Ok, it wasnt my ipod, but my clothes and equipment, and there were no ants, but fleas in the barracks we slept in. All of our clothe were put in freezers overnight to kill the fleas and possible eggs and our trucks and equipment was sprayed with a pesticide. Biological warfare is not funny frown

MrCrisp

MrCrisp

I'm lost
August 2004

SEP 04, 2005 01:53 PM

MisterSatan said:
Anyone seen Olivia lately?



burning man, methinks.

thesleeper

thesleeper

United Kingdom
August 2004

SEP 04, 2005 02:24 PM

You see ants will take over the World

Almost like the iPod

[Edited on Sep 04, 2005 10:24PM]

TarNish

TarNish

Monrovia, CA
January 2003

SEP 04, 2005 02:37 PM

ants are bastards. My hometown is just one giant ant hill. It's extremely shitty to come home after a long night of drinking to find they've made a little trail across your bed to the pantry across the hall. mad mad

waldo

waldo

I'm lost
June 2004

SEP 04, 2005 02:43 PM

Good for the guy with the iPod. Most people would've just dumped the packaging.

BatAttaK

BatAttaK

Reston, VA
OLD SKOOL

SEP 05, 2005 01:52 AM

I cannot even imagine what it would be like to live in a society where I could call the "Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries" and get an intelligent response. My mind shudders at the thought of my calling one of our government agencies with this situation.

d_day

d_day

San Bernardino, CA
July 2002

SEP 05, 2005 02:05 AM

waldo said:
Good for the guy with the iPod. Most people would've just dumped the packaging.



Including me. I find it highly unlikely that the packaging would harbor a queen ant, which would be required to establish a colony and reproduce.

UpTight

UpTight

I'm lost
December 2003

SEP 05, 2005 02:16 AM

I wonder what music was on the iPod....

waldo

waldo

I'm lost
June 2004

SEP 05, 2005 08:55 AM

dday said:

waldo said:
Good for the guy with the iPod. Most people would've just dumped the packaging.



Including me. I find it highly unlikely that the packaging would harbor a queen ant, which would be required to establish a colony and reproduce.



Maybe you're right, but if you look at the site quoted in the story, you'll see that its native distribution is Old World Tropics. That didn't include the Florida Keys, last time I looked.

featured interviews