for: progress trap, red fire ants, fire ants, progress trap - shipping, unintended consequences, unintended consequences - shipping

paraphrase

• Fire ants would be devastating if released in continental Europe and even more all around the Mediterranean Sea.
• The cost for human economies and well-being would be enormous. Where they have been invasive, they have:
  • displaced native ant and other species
  • damage electrical equipment
• A genetic analysis of the Italian ants suggests they likely came from either China or the United States.
• In the U.S., the species causes an estimated $6 billion in damage each year.
• The insects spread internationally via shipping, especially of plants and soil.
• Red fire ants have been detected in imported products in Spain, Finland, and the Netherlands, but not as wild colonies.