Frank Sinatra famously sang that if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere. And that’s just what worries some scientists who have been studying a particular species of ant.

This ant, nicknamed the ManhattAnt, first turned up in the city in 2011. Back then, no one knew where it came from, and for years it was mostly ignored. But this ant has flourished in the Big Apple, so much so that it’s now vying with a species called the pavement ant for being the most common ant in the city, and what’s more, ManhattAnts have started to spread beyond their namesake island, expanding their territory at a rate of about a mile a year.

Scientists are now trying to figure out why it has been so successful, in order to better predict whether it’s likely to threaten native insect species or damage trees and other plants, as ants are well known to have ripple effects through ecosystems that lead to unexpected consequences.

Yet another real-life and current example of the importance of always keeping up with good biosecurity practices and not allowing things to creep in around us – it can happen so easily!

Image: ManhattAnts are managing to live in a planter in Times Square. Credit Rebecca Senft.