Posted on 10/02/2011 12:14:21 PM PDT by Mr. Mojo
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — It sounds like a horror movie: Biting ants invade by the millions. A camper's metal walls bulge from the pressure of ants nesting behind them. A circle of poison stops them for only a day, and then a fresh horde shows up, bringing babies. Stand in the yard, and in seconds ants cover your shoes. It's an extreme example of what can happen when the ants — which also can disable huge industrial plants — go unchecked. Controlling them can cost thousands of dollars. But the story is real, told by someone who's been studying ants for a decade.
"Months later, I could close my eyes and see them moving," said Joe MacGown, who curates the ant, mosquito and scarab collections at the Mississippi State Entomological Museum at Mississippi State University.
He's been back to check on the hairy crazy ants. They're still around. The occupant isn't.
The flea-sized critters are called crazy because each forager scrambles randomly at a speed that your average picnic ant, marching one by one, reaches only in video fast-forward. They're called hairy because of fuzz that, to the naked eye, makes their abdomens look less glossy than those of their slower, bigger cousins.
And they're on the move in Florida, Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana. In Texas, they've invaded homes and industrial complexes, urban areas and rural areas. They travel in cargo containers, hay bales, potted plants, motorcycles and moving vans. They overwhelm beehives — one Texas beekeeper was losing 100 a year in 2009. They short out industrial equipment.
If one gets electrocuted, its death releases a chemical cue to attack a threat to the colony, said Roger Gold, an entomology professor at Texas A&M.
"The other ants rush in. Before long, you have a ball of ants," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Um, you can keep ‘em.. we’ll stick with fire ants.
LMAO!
8^D
It’s my understanding they destroy fire ant colonies.
I have a crazy, hairy aunt. Dinna know she could still breed...
This sounds like the plot of a bad science fiction movie. I thought Fire Ants were bad enough. These seem even worse.
“And they’re on the move in Florida, Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana.”
How did they miss Alabama? Tough illegal immigration law? Crimson Tide?
a friend of mine was sitting near fire ants in austin, tx while his friend was working on his car engine.
moments later, our friend was completely undressed and screaming.
Need to round those ants up and ship them to the protests in NY, Boston, Chicago and wherever else the idiots are assembling. Maybe if they really have something to complain about they’ll get the heck out of the parks and off the streets. : )
What next?
That’s not an Ant. THIS is an Ant!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyvR-lQwNzM&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL2D3FE528A08B65AE
I like the human face on that giant ant. LOL.
Yeah...it’s from my favorite all time episode of the old tv series...”The Outer Limits.”......the episode was called “The Zanti Misfits”...pretty funny ..scary back then. It’s on youtube....it’s funny when they try to communicate. Their voice and language is freaky. LOL! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqdW3smWmtA
What next?
Hairless Democrats??
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