# Ant misbehaving **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 12, 2026, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-misbehaving/1028403 "2026-03-12T18:43:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-misbehaving/1028403/1 "2026-03-12T18:43:02Z")
“What are you in here for, buddy?” “Ant smuggling.” > **[Kenya arrests Chinese national over attempt to smuggle 2,000 queen ants](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz7gd57z33zo)** > > The suspect had packed some ants in test tubes while others were concealed in tissue paper rolls, prosecutor says. > Last year, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) warned of a growing demand for garden ants – scientifically known as Messor cephalotes - in Europe and Asia, where collectors keep them as pets. … > “Within his personal luggage there was found 1,948 garden ants packed in specialised test tubes,” prosecutor Allen Mulama told the court. > > “A further 300 live ants were recovered concealed in three rolls of tissue paper within the luggage,” he added. > **[Chinese national detained over attempted smuggling of over 2,000 queen garden...](https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/news/310836/chinese-national-detained-over-attempted-smuggling-of-over-2000-queen-garden-ants)** > > A Chinese national has been detained in Nairobi after officers at JKIA intercepted nearly 2,300 live queen garden ants bound for China, prompting a wider probe... > Prosecutors requested additional time to investigate what they believe is a well-organised international trafficking network dealing in live ants. No mention if he had ants in the pants [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/WbF4Isds60Y/maxresdefault.jpg "Ants In The Pants Game Advert, 1970s - Film 95528") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbF4Isds60Y) ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-misbehaving/1028403/2 "2026-03-12T19:02:50Z")
I wonder if there’s a similar insect export law in the books here in US? Or any otherwise unprotected bugs. Maybe they all belong to Monsanto now? Importing live animals is different. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2026, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-misbehaving/1028403/3 "2026-03-17T14:34:30Z")
This is how ecological disasters begin. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2026, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-misbehaving/1028403/4 "2026-03-17T16:18:21Z")
And now we know why we have Fire ants. Gahhhh!😱 ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-misbehaving/1028403/5 "2026-04-15T20:37:53Z")
> **[Chinese man jailed after trying to smuggle 2,200 ants out of Kenya in his...](https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/15/africa/chinese-man-smuggle-ants-kenya-intl-scli)** > > A ​Kenyan court on Wednesday ordered a Chinese ⁠man to pay a fine of 1 ​million shillings ($7,746) and gave him a 12-month jail term for trying to smuggle live ants out of the country. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ant-misbehaving/1028403/6 "2026-04-15T20:54:19Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > I wonder if there’s a similar insect export law in the books here in US? I did a quick Google search and couldn’t find anything for the US. However, there apparently has been one in Australia since 1978. [History of the Australian entomological society - Fletcher - 2016 - Austral Entomology - Wiley Online Library](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/aen.12196) > Regulation 13A of the _Customs Act_ , which prohibited the export of ‘live or dead insects, including ticks and spiders’ from Australia unless the recipient was an institution which had lodged a permanent undertaking to return to Australia holotypes of those groups it receives from any source in the future.