Agriculture Victoria is reminding people to be aware of invasive and strange insects after experiencing a red ant close-call.
Recently an Echuca resident found tiny red ants inside his water meter.
He took some close-up pictures and contacted Agriculture Victoria straight away to report them.
The initial description had biosecurity officers worried as the ants closely resembled a highly aggressive type of invasive ant known as electric ants, which can displace native species and injure livestock, pets and people.
Agriculture Victoria leading biosecurity officer Emily Hill said the photos the Echuca man provided were a great help to progressing the report.
“However, our entomologists weren’t able to categorically determine whether they were a highly invasive exotic species or not,” she said.
Biosecurity officers were then deployed to the farm where they took a sample and hurried it back to a lab in Bundoora to confirm the ants weren’t electric ants, but a native species.
Electric ants (also known as little fire ants) spread quickly through human activity, such as the movement of plants, garden waste and machinery.
Native to central America, electric ants are now established in Africa, Taiwan, North America, the Pacific Islands and are ‘under eradication’ in Far North Queensland.
Reports of exotic species can be made to plant.protection@agriculture.vic.gov.au or by phoning 136 186.