2. Treatment and Surveillance Areas Port (Air and Sea) Eastern Area Wellington Pt Wacol/Richlands Western Area Swanbank South west

3. Origins Chemical markers Hydrocarbons Venom Alkaloids Genetic markers Gp9 (Social forms: Gp9 BB monogyne, Gp9 Bb polygyne) Microsatellites Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)

4. Microsatellites ( 4 loci, 20 allelles East West Origins

6. 43% of fire ant sites found on recently cleared land (includes a buffer of 25 metres) used for urban development (7% of treatment area) 93% of fire ant sites fell within 1 km of this recently cleared land Preferred Habitat

7. An Estimation of the Mode of Dispersion Breakdown of ‘known’ modes of dispersion

8. Native Ant Fauna

9. Response of Native Ants to Small Fire Ant Nests Iridomyrmex spp and Rhytidoponera metallica (complex) Equal numbers –Native ants more likely to initiate an attack –Total fire ant mortality within 15mins Equal Biomass – Fire ants initiated more attacks – Native ants observed avoiding confrontation – Fire ants ‘ganging up’ on native ants

10. Interaction

11. Monthly Rainfall and Number of Wet Days August 2001 to December 2002 and Average Monthly Rainfall and Number of Wet Days

12. Days of Rain and Times of Flights Observed in the Field (west)

13. Daily Foraging Activity in Summer, Autumn and Spring

14. Summary Fire ants (monogynes and polygynes) in south east Queensland appear to have originated in the USA. The intensity and rate of the infestation may have been tempered by the: –drier than usual conditions effecting number of flights and possibly the level of foraging and food available in the warmer months; – the presence of substantial numbers of polygyne colonies; –and the impact of local ant fauna attacking small colonies. The infestation has been assisted by increase in clearing, new residential development and the movement of materials.

15. Our Thanks To Dr Robert Vander Meer Dr Ross Crozier Dr Jane Hughes FACC colleagues, in particular Brenda Gooding, Craig Jennings, Evan Harris and Lynne Griffin

17. Geographical Distribution of Social Forms and Haplotypes Within the Treatment Area

18. Comparison of Rainfall 1997-2002 with Average Annual Rainfall (1929- 2001)

19. Distribution of Samples Analysed Chemically and Genetically

20. Distribution of Social Forms Within the Treatment Area

21. Seasonal Foraging Treatment Underway Healthy nest - not yet treated

22. Chemical and Genetic Characteristics of Selected Colonies Within the Treatment Area

23. Unrooted maximum likelihood tree of the three Australian populations of Solenopsis invicta together with known North American populations and small samples from North and South America.

24. Maximum and Minimum Temperatures (average 1929-2001) and 2002

25. Foraging