Posted on Friday, May 16 2008 @ 23:32 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
DailyTech writes a new species of ants named crazy rasberry ants is invading Houston homes. These ants cause harm to electronic devices like computers and stack their dead to avoid pesticides on surfaces:
A new species of ant has arrived in Houston and is believed to have come to Texas via a cargo ship that arrived at the Port of Houston. The ants are called crazy rasberry ants. The ants get the odd name from the fact that they tend to move erratically around in search of food rather than moving in orderly lines like typical ants.
The rasberry portion of the name comes from the exterminator who first battled the new species in Houston. The ants appear to be immune to the common over the counter ant sprays that Texas residents rely on to keep ants at bay during the hot and humid summer months.
There is one upside to the new species of ant— they eat fire ants. Fire ants are a huge problem and one of the most common pests in Texas with a vicious sting that leaves welts and burns like fire -- hence the name.
The crazy rasberry ant will also bite humans, but it doesn’t do so with a stinger. The new ants are about the size of fleas. So far reports have come in that the ants have invaded computers causing them to stop working and caused fire alarms to malfunction.
More info
at DailyTech.
