Living ants are seen in test-tubes seized at border Customs at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in southwest China's Sichuan Province on November 2, 2015. (Photo: China News Service/Rong Guan)
Customs officers in Chengdu City in southwest China's Sichuan Province have intercepted more than 1,000 live ants in two packages imported from Germany, customs authorities said Tuesday.
The ants were identified as harvester ants and Paraponera, which are among the largest ants in the world and are usually kept as pets. Each ant was shipped in its own 10-cm-long test tube filled with honeydew melon.
Zhao Feng, researcher with the inspection and quarantine bureau of Sichuan, said the non-native ant species have no natural threats in China, which could endanger the environment. They also reproduce quickly, with ant queens laying as many as 2,000 eggs per day.
The bugs can carry disease and threaten agriculture, forestry and human health, he added.
Chen Hai, official with the inspection and quarantine bureau of Sichuan, said China now has more than 50 of the 100 most dangerous non-native species published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Imported hazardous species have been on the rise. According to Zhao Shucong, head of China's national forestry bureau, Chinese customs intercepted 500 shipments of foreign pests in 2000. In 2013, the number skyrocketed to 610,000.
