Fire ants invade North Texas with heavy rains

WFAA.com ^ | May 21, 2015 | Philip Townsend

[Daffynition]

The ants take turns walking on one another to stay out of the water and survive. They eventually build dense circles like the one Nathan captured on his phone.

"I was floored when I saw them," said Nathan's dad, Dwayne. "I had never seen anything like that."

[Jane Long]

As a native Texan, I’ll LOL at that!

[Drew68]

Shortest period of time ever recorded is the time between when a fireant gets on you and the time it starts biting/stinging.

That's no joke. A wasp might land on you, walk around a bit and fly away without ever stinging but fire ants start attacking as soon as they touch your skin.

Just this past Monday I wasn't watching where I was going and set some gear down by a fire ant fill. When I went to pick it up, ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! Like electric shocks, I started getting stung. Most of the bites went away fairly quickly but one on my finger has turned into a nasty, pus-leaking zit.

[SamAdams76]

And a few months ago, I was complaining about the never ending winter here in the Northeast. One good thing about these winters up here is that they kill every bug so that in April, they have to start all over again and never really get a foothold. But there are a few weeks where the deer flies and mosquitoes make it tough to be outdoors.

[txhurl]

would be to spade deeply around the exposed mound slightly raising it

---

:) excellent example of theory colliding with reality. You wouldn’t have the first spadeful up and the ants will have totally covered the spade and jumped onto you! Their rage upon attack is why lots of folks just ignite ‘em, then stand back and gloat.

[Joe 6-pack]

"excellent example of theory colliding with reality. You wouldn’t have the first spadeful up and the ants will have totally covered the spade and jumped onto you!"

100% DEET on the spade and trouser legs. They hate the stuff.

[Secret Agent Man]

That is when you hit them with a blowtorch And gasoline.

Damn hard to get rid of.

[Daffynition]

It’d be nice if the birds ate them, while they are in these groped patterns.

[Texicanus]

As a fellow native Texan and a conservative, I thank you.

I would like to discourage any out-of-state liberals from coming to Texas and planning to change our State into the liberal paradise they came from. Fire ants are the least of their problems. Conservative Texans have learned to live with fire ants but liberals are another issue.

[luvie]

Sure hate to hear that! I haven’t seen any here.....yet.....

[Daffynition]

[Daffynition]

Heh. Great story. There’s not much that attracts me to Texas....has to do with its lack of trees and it’s so flat and hot....and now this!

[Daffynition]

[skinkinthegrass]

thanks..those d@mn @nts are in wKY now, we were Aggies then
and we hope they aren't following us. 😲

[piasa]

Just 1/4 teaspoon of Amdro on the biggest mound wipes it out overnight. Might not even take that much.

I get huge mounds 4 feet around in the orange grove sometimes, if I haven’t walked the orchard in a while. Sometimes there will be a big one at the base of a palm, but no matter how big the mound a tiny bit of Amdro takes care of it. We usually have a couple small mounds to do every few weeks, but that’s all on several acres, and seldom any near the house because the chickens or ducks must eat them.

Squirting dawn dish soap into the main opening probably would work too,though mostly against the worker ants, not neccesarily the queen. It seems like the fire ants take the amdro as if it is a prized gourmet treat directly to the queen, so it is very efficient.

[Daffynition]

Import these....more useful than an armadillo.

[Texicanus]

Like the never ending winter you were experiencing, the fire ants seen to go on forever in Texas. Just about the time we think we have them whipped, something like a flood comes along and they are more prevalent than ever once again. It’s a losing battle.

They will migrate off our property and wait patiently on our next door neighbor’s property, only to return with a vengeance when we think you have gotten rid of them for good. They eat the pesticides like candy and their population appears to dwindles yet they survive to pester us time and again. It is a cycle we have experienced for decades in Texas.

[Daffynition]

Dreadful story. I was bitten in Florida.....sore and itchy for weeks.

[Yosemitest]

ANTS: Good News Vs Bad News
How many of you are familiar with Fire Ants?
How many of you wished they would go away?

Watch:

Fire ants vs. Rasberry Crazy Ants ( 2:10 )
Uploaded on Feb 19, 2012

Fire ants versus a new invasive ant species in Texas.
First, video footage of a captive fire ant colony defending against the crazy ants.
The crazy ants are extremely fast, so the fire ants take a while to react and have trouble cornering them.
Second, video of a captive crazy ant colony defending against fire ants.
They quickly surround and spray the intruders with venom.



Science Bulletins: Chemical Defense Aids "Crazy Ant" Invasion ( 2:14 )
Published on Mar 21, 2014
Invasive fire ants are firmly established in the southeastern United States, defending their territory with venomous stings.
But a new invasive species, the tawny crazy ant, appears impervious to fire ants' toxic attacks.
A recent study pinpoints the crazy ants' defensive strategy, which is furthering their domination over not just fire ants, but other insects.

Science Bulletins is a production of the National Center for Science Literacy, Education, and Technology (NCSLET), part of the Department of Education at the American Museum of Natural History.

RELATED LINKS

Science: Chemical Warfare Among Invaders: A Detoxification Interaction Facilitates an Ant Invasion
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/ear...

Biological Invasions: Imported crazy ant displaces imported fire ant, reduces and homogenizes grassland ant and arthropod assemblages http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10530-013-...

PLOS ONE: The Importance of Using Multiple Approaches for Identifying Emerging Invasive Species—The Case of the Rasberry Crazy Ant in the United States
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3...

[Daffynition]

Yikes! I’m getting too old for this!

[Jane Long]

Amen. Don’t come to Texas!