Huge ant colony found under Melbourne

AN ant colony measuring 100 kilometres (62 miles) across has been found under the southern Australian city of Melbourne, scientists said.

Monash University researcher Elissa Suhr said the supercolony of Argentine ants was threatening native biodiversity in Australia’s second largest city.

Suhr said the introduced pest’s natural aggression kept numbers under control in its native country but the genetic make-up of the ants found in Australia had mutated, allowing them to cooperate to build the supercolony.