Outcompeted

You are listening to Outcompeted, the podcast with your hosts Connor Stubbs and Daniel Smith

In this episode of Outcompeted, the Podcast, we discuss when, how, where, and what red imported fire ants do.

Connor: Welcome back, everyone, and today we are talking about the invasive species, also known as red imported fire ants. The red imported fire ant was accidentally introduced to the United States by cargo ships arriving from South America in the late 1930s or early 1940s. The ants entered through a seaport in Alabama. They likely traveled in the soil used as ballast weight in cargo ships coming from South American lowlands like Brazil and Argentina. Scientists estimate that as few as 9 to 20 unrelated queens started the original U.S. population

• LOCATION QUESTION OF THE DAY!!! Connor asks Daniel what he thinks are the top 5 worst states, and then tells him: Worst in

1. Texas - Faces an estimated $1.2 billion in annual damage
2. Florida - 100% of its counties are completely infested
3. Alabama - The original U.S. entry point for the species
4. Louisiana - Every single parish is under strict federal quarantine
5. Georgia - Heavy permanent saturation statewide, hurting agriculture

Daniel: Hello everyone…

Connor: They reproduce rapidly, lack natural predators, and aggressively dominate local ecosystems and human spaces. Speaking of being aggressive, when disturbed, hundreds of ants swarm vertical surfaces and inflict painful stings that inject caustic venom.

• Living Air Conditioners: Mound architecture uses a parabolic dish shape to capture sun heat, moving the colony up or down inside the mound to regulate temperature.
• Behaving Like Liquids: Swarm intelligence lets thousands of individual ants link their legs and mandibles to flow smoothly through tiny spaces and around obstacles.
• Attracted to Electricity: Electrical fields draw these insects into air-conditioning units, traffic signals, and utility boxes, where they chew wires and cause severe equipment damage.
• Massive Populations: Colony density explodes when multiple-queen colonies form, reaching up to 200 mounds and 40 million ants per acre.
• Super-Powered Queens: Queen lifespans span up to 6 years, during which a single queen can lay over 1,500 eggs every single day.

NEXT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT FERAL PIGS

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You are listening to Outcompeted, the podcast with your hosts Connor Stubbs and Daniel Smith

In this episode of Outcompeted, the Podcast, we discuss when, how, where, and what spotted lanternflies do.

Connor: Hello everyone, today we are talking about the invasive species, also known as the spotted lanternfly. These lanternflies likely arrived as egg masses on an imported stone shipment from Asia. They were first found in September 2014 in Berks County, Pennsylvania.

• Talks about segment 1 being shorter than 2
• Connor asks Daniel where he thinks it's the worst, and then tells him: Worst in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut

Daniel: Hello everyone and welcome back to our podcast. Now we are gonna talk about what these spotted destructors are doing to our ecosystems, but ima leave to my partner Connor!

Connor: Spotted lanternflies eat sap from trees, causing them to die and lose control of their growth. You can see it because they leave behind sap. Most active between July and November.

• Daniel talks about how they barely have any predators
• Feed on over 70 plant species
• Most famous for excreting a sugary liquid waste called honeydew
• Despite their name, they are not flies or moths; they are planthoppers in the order Hemiptera, making them close relatives of cicadas and aphids
• Even though they have two sets of wings, they are very weak fliers and prefer to hop or run from place to place
• They love to cling to cars, trucks, and outdoor gear—and studies show they can hold on while vehicles drive at speeds up to 60 miles per hour

WE ARE TALKING ABOUT the red imported fire ant

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How did non-native species reach the U.S., and where are they thriving now? Connor Stubbs and Daniel Smith trace the journeys of noxious invaders, sharing surprising facts and actionable strategies to help purge these unwanted species from our ecosystems.