Posted on 05/14/2008 8:09:18 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
In what sounds like a really low-budget horror film, voracious swarming ants that apparently arrived in Texas aboard a cargo ship are invading homes and yards across the Houston area, shorting out electrical boxes and messing up computers.
The hairy, reddish-brown creatures are known as "crazy rasberry ants" — crazy, because they wander erratically instead of marching in regimented lines, and "rasberry" after Tom Rasberry, an exterminator who did battle against them early on.
"They're itty-bitty things about the size of fleas, and they're just running everywhere," said Patsy Morphew of Pearland, who is constantly sweeping them off her patio and scooping them out of her pool by the cupful. "There's just thousands and thousands of them. If you've seen a car racing, that's how they are. They're going fast, fast, fast. They're crazy."
The ants — formally known as "paratrenicha species near pubens" — have spread to five Houston-area counties since they were first spotted in Texas in 2002.
The newly recognized species is believed to have arrived in a cargo shipment through the port of Houston. Scientists are not sure exactly where the ants came from, but their cousins, commonly called crazy ants, are found in the Southeast and the Caribbean.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
The fire ant was also introduced to the United States through carbo ships.
through carbo ships?......Starches or sugars?.......
Where’s Ozzy? He’ll snort them all up.
Bush’s fault.
Bitter ants clinging to their guns and religion...
Maybe these are the crazy ants Ross Perot kept locked up in his basement.
Holy mackerel. Don’t we have enough problems already?
al-Gore may just proclaim that global warming drove ‘em crazy!;)
Now I have to worry about getting crazy raspberry ants in my pants.
In what sounds like a really low-budget horror film, voracious swarming ants that apparently arrived in Texas aboard a cargo ship are invading homes and yards across the Houston area, shorting out electrical boxes and messing up computers.
The hairy, reddish-brown creatures are known as "crazy rasberry ants" — crazy, because they wander erratically instead of marching in regimented lines, and "rasberry" after Tom Rasberry, an exterminator who did battle against them early on.
Aparently he lost.
I’d be curious to know what the local varieties of horned toad, road runner, gecko, lizard, armadillo, hornets, and birds think of these big things.
You have to accept them. You can no more be rid of them than you can your crazy uncle pastor Wright...
I may have nightmares about the roach.....
??????????????????????
Now, now, when I lived in Texas those “roaches” were called “water bugs.” It looked like a dang roach to me. I think calling them water bugs was a way of giving them a softer , less yuckie kind of name. A roach is a roach.
A possible solution, from “The Simpsons”:
LISA: But isn’t that a bit short-sighted? What happens when we’re overrun by lizards?
SKINNER: No problem. We simply unleash wave after wave of Chinese needle snakes. They’ll wipe out the lizards.
LISA: But aren’t the snakes even worse?
SKINNER: Yes, but we’re prepared for that. We’ve lined up a fabulous type of gorilla that thrives on snake meat.
LISA: But then we’re stuck with gorillas!
SKINNER: No, that’s the beautiful part. When wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death.
My area of the world got invaded by Asian stinkbugs last year. They are royal pains, they fly into you, get in the house, and they smell to high heaven if you kill them.
I guess I should be grateful, at least they don't short out electrical appliances.
I read this article today and found out they actually feed on fire ants.
More damn illegal immigrants...
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