Invasive Asian Stinging Ant Crawling In North Dakota?

The summer months are amazing but with this nice weather comes some things that are not so nice. You know what I'm talking about. Bugs.

Yes, bugs are the unfortunate tradeoff, but there are some that are much worse than others. and Wasps? Terrible. Ants? Also terrible.

Here's something you might not have known, there's an evil ant crawling around North Dakota right now. Allow me to explain.

Asian Stinging Ant

Did you know there is an ant that can sting you? Did you also know it's an invasive species? Did you know that they might be crawling around here in North Dakota? Eeeek!

According to ABCNewsGo, the stinging ant has been found in 20 U.S. states. They are shiny dark brown to black. They originated in Japan, China, and Korea, but in 1932 we started finding them in the U.S.

They are pretty small creatures that have small colonies. They also don't usually form lines.

The obvious difference with these ants is that when they are agitated, they can sting. Asian Needle Ant stings can cause itching, swelling, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness and even difficulty breathing.

Their behavior is a little different than the typical ant. These ants like wood habitats, so be careful when touching leaves, firewood and mulch.

Look, I know many bugs are essential and useful in the grander scheme of things, but I'm not sure we need this one.

That's it!

Now that we've learned all about this little creature that I'm sure we'd all be happy to live without, let's look at some of North Dakota's endangered species, that we'd like to save.