Ants may be the first known insects ensnared in plastic pollution

Plastic waste routinely ensnares marine life, but even small landlubbers are not immune

A photo of an ant tangled in a thin, red fiber.

This Lasius grandis ant, tangled in a thin, red fiber, may be one of the first examples of insects becoming tangled in plastic pollution.

Armand Rausell-Moreno

Some Canary Island ants have picked up an unwelcome stowaway — plastic waste.