The government said Tuesday it will launch large-scale control measures against fire ants at 68 ports that regularly receive containers from nations where<\/b>
\nThe government said Tuesday it will launch large-scale control measures against fire ants at 68 ports that regularly receive containers from nations where the venomous, invasive species is commonly found.
The measures were adopted at a liaison meeting after fire ants were discovered mainly at ports across the country. The government hopes to prevent the species from taking hold.
The government is considering placing hundreds of thousands of insecticide units across 68 ports across the country.
Fire ants were first found in a container in Amagasaki in Hyogo Prefecture in late May and later detected in Tokyo, Aichi, and Osaka prefectures.
As queen ants were found at the Osaka and Kobe ports, the Environment Ministry is concerned that the species may become established in Japan.
Meanwhile, the transport ministry asked 29 airports with international flights to set up traps for fire ants and carry out emergency inspections.<\/p>\n