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These ants quietly took over Manhattan — and they're not stopping there

Pixabay

New York: The city that never sleeps, the concrete jungle where dreams are made of and more recently ... home to a mysterious ant spreading across the city — before continuing across metropolitan and even state lines.

Scientists first noticed this ant — now dubbed the ManhattAnt — in 2011. Nobody knew where it came from, and it was largely ignored until it began taking the streets by storm. Now, these ants have become true New Yorkers: Climbing high-rises and speed walking across the city. They're even giving other ant species in the city some competition and researchers think they could spread from Maine to Georgia.

Read more of science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce's story here.

Interested in hearing more animal news? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.

Listen to Short Wave on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.

This episode was produced by Rachel Carlson, edited by Rebecca Ramirez and fact-checked by Nell Greenfieldboyce. The audio engineer was Robert Rodriguez.

Copyright 2024 NPR

Regina G. Barber
Regina G. Barber is Short Wave's Scientist in Residence. She contributes original reporting on STEM and guest hosts the show.
Nell Greenfieldboyce is a NPR science correspondent.
Rachel Carlson
Rachel Carlson (she/her) is a production assistant at Short Wave, NPR's science podcast. She gets to do a bit of everything: researching, sourcing, writing, fact-checking and cutting episodes.
Rebecca Ramirez
Rebecca Ramirez (she/her) is the founding producer of NPR's daily science podcast, Short Wave. It's a meditation in how to be a Swiss Army Knife, in that it involves a little of everything — background research, finding and booking sources, interviewing guests, writing, cutting the tape, editing, scoring ... you get the idea.
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