EARTH - Late 20th Century

Invasive Species: An organism that does not originate from a particular area, but has either migrated or was carried to a new foreign habitat. Invasive species can cause great economic and environmental harm to the new area, often wiping out the indigenous, native wildlife.

RIFA: Red Imported Fire Ant

The six legged laborer scurried out of a forest of long green blades. Its legs propelled it across the ground so fast that the world morphed into a passing blur, but it didn't need to see to know where it was going. Clouds of scents and the reverberations of the earth told the miniature creature everything it needed to know, and led it back to its home. It summited a volcano of dirt and debris that was gathered by her sisters over the months. The brown hill stood ready to explode with rivers of its crimson sisters at the slightest provocation. Once inside, it joined its thousands of sisters in the dark caverns her predecessors carved for her. The singular ant was now indistinguishable from the flowing torrent of red.

Suddenly, a tremor rattled the nest, and a flood of pheromones filled the senses of every fighting sister available. Like berserkers in a frenzy, the tiny insects charged for the surface, blind in a murderous rage. It didn't matter who the foe was, nor did the size of the intruder. All the sisters knew now was that whatever disturbed the nest of their holy queen must be killed.

This was the way it had always been in this colony, as it had been with thousands of others that dotted the southern United States. What had not always been were the colonies themselves. What the ants didn't know or care to know was that their home was on a different continent. They were artificially transported decades ago. Their relocation was not intentional or done with malice. It was a mere accident, and that accident had cost their human neighbors billions of dollars every year.

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EARTH - Early 21st Century

Ecological Balance: A natural set of checks and balances that limits the population of local flora and fauna, so no one species monopolizes their habitat. These can include factors, such as weather, competitor species, and natural defenses.

Phoris Fly: Ant Decapitating Fly

The scientists opened up their plastic case, releasing a new invasive species into the southern United States. This foreign flying insect was known to be an old nemesis of fire ants.

Phorid flies; also known by the monicker, Ant Decapitating Flies. For millions of years, they helped to keep the balance in the jungles of South America, wiping out whole colonies of ants. They did this by injecting egg after egg onto the bodies of the red ants. Once the egg had been laid, the ant's fate was sealed. In a matter of days, the egg would hatch and the newborn maggot would burrow into the ant's skull, where it feasted on the contents within until there was nothing left. With the head emptied, the maggot would release an enzyme that melted away the ant's neck until the head fell off. From there, the maggot would emerge as yet another phorid fly, eager to repeat the cycle again.

As luck would have it for the scientists, bringing in yet another invasive species may yet be the solution they were looking for in dealing with a pest that was resilient against anything man-made.

As soon as that plastic box was opened, the ants' world all at once changed. The pheromones that now flooded the colony sounded a new emotion the red insects had never known until that moment, for they were born in a world without adversaries to rival them. Fear.