NAIROBI — A Kenyan court on Wednesday fined four men $7,700 each for trying to traffic thousands of ants valuable to the country's ecosystem, in cases experts say signal a shift in biopiracy from trophies like elephant ivory to lesser-known species.

Authorities arrested two Belgian teenagers, a Vietnamese man and a Kenyan national on April 5, accusing them in two separate cases of trying to smuggle out about 5,440 giant African harvester queen ants.

Magistrate Njeri Thuku said the ants would fetch in excess of $900,000 online in Europe, Asia and parts of North America, where ant keepers maintain colonies in large transparent vessels known as formicariums to observe their cooperative behavior.

Queen ants are valued because they are the only ones capable of laying eggs that grow into worker, soldier and future queen ants, meaning that the illegal trade can jeopardize colonies critical to Kenya's wildlife ecosystem.

Thuku convicted the traffickers of dealing in live wildlife species, and ordered them to pay the fine or face 12 months in jail. They had all pleaded guilty.

The cases had raised questions about whether the alleged trafficking was linked to wider networks.

Thuku said Duh Heng Nguyen, from Vietnam, was sent to Nairobi to meet a Kenyan, Dennis Nganga, and collect ants in an elaborate scheme that had "all the hallmarks of illegal wildlife trade and possibly biopiracy".

The two Belgians, identified in court documents as Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, are both ant enthusiasts who claimed in court that they acted out of naivety, Thuku said.

Lornoy David's phone revealed he was a member of a group known as "Ant Gang", and that he had initially bought 2,500 queen ants for $200, Thuku said in her ruling.

"This is beyond a hobby," Thuku said.

Ants are prized by enthusiasts for the way they work together, performing tasks like building a nest, collecting seeds or making collective decisions without a leader, in what experts describe as a superorganism.

The Kenya Wildlife Service said the Messor cephalotes ants are a critical species in maintaining soil health and ecosystem balance, and were intercepted by authorities at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in the capital Nairobi.

It said in a statement that the ants "were destined for the European and Asian exotic pet trade, where colonies of rare and ecologically unique species can command prices of up to 1,200 euros ($1,357) each".

"Today's ruling sends an unequivocal message: Kenya will not tolerate the plunder of its biodiversity. Whether it's an ant or an elephant, we will pursue traffickers relentlessly," said Erustus Kanga, director general of Kenya Wildlife Service.

Agencies via Xinhua