A research team from National Taiwan University has successfully mapped out the migration and invasion paths of red imported fire ants. The incredible finding has recently been published in the international journal, which is set to help people fight against these aggressive insects around the world.

28-year old Mr. Liu was cleaning when he accidentally knocked over an ant nest.

In a matter of seconds, red imported fire ants were pouring out of the nest and making their way up his arm.

The 90-kilogram Liu was unconscious by the time the ambulance arrived, but was fortunately revived with antihistamine shots.

Red imported fire ants are native to South America, and first invaded the United States and Australia.

They have caused major economic losses and also become a problem in Taiwan.

In order to contain and prevent future invasions, a National Taiwan University research team sequenced the complete genome of the ants to determine their origin.

Their studies showed that different invasions are independent of each other, and that they migrated around the world from the U.S. rather than South America.

Fire ants, which are omnivorous, are responsible for major ecological and agricultural damage every year and harmful to fossorial animals.

The NTU team has been able to map out the ants' genome and migration path, which will greatly aid in the prevention of future invasions.

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