'Crazy Ants' Get Under Skin of Gulf Coast Residents
By LESLIE EATON
WSJ
PEARLAND, Texas -- Swarms of foreign "crazy ants" are spreading through Texas and Florida, raising alarms that the tiny, frenetic bugs will rival the fire ants that have ravaged the South, costing billions of dollars in damages each year.
Although the new pests don't pack the powerful sting of fire ants, scientists say they can do as much damage, killing wildlife and shorting out electrical equipment. Crazy ants have an additional trait that is proving especially irksome: They like to hang out where people live and are difficult to dislodge once they get inside buildings.
Called crazy ants because they scramble in all directions rather than trudging along a straight track, the ants carpet the ground and swarm over anything in their way -- plants, animals or humans. Scientists think the ants originated in the Caribbean.
The bugs, technically known as paratrechina species near pubens, form multiqueen supercolonies and breed by the millions, especially during the summer. They have now spread to 14 Texas counties, mostly around Houston, but have been found in three new spots this summer, including San Antonio 200 miles to the west.
(Continued here.)
WSJ
PEARLAND, Texas -- Swarms of foreign "crazy ants" are spreading through Texas and Florida, raising alarms that the tiny, frenetic bugs will rival the fire ants that have ravaged the South, costing billions of dollars in damages each year.
Although the new pests don't pack the powerful sting of fire ants, scientists say they can do as much damage, killing wildlife and shorting out electrical equipment. Crazy ants have an additional trait that is proving especially irksome: They like to hang out where people live and are difficult to dislodge once they get inside buildings.
Called crazy ants because they scramble in all directions rather than trudging along a straight track, the ants carpet the ground and swarm over anything in their way -- plants, animals or humans. Scientists think the ants originated in the Caribbean.
The bugs, technically known as paratrechina species near pubens, form multiqueen supercolonies and breed by the millions, especially during the summer. They have now spread to 14 Texas counties, mostly around Houston, but have been found in three new spots this summer, including San Antonio 200 miles to the west.
(Continued here.)
Powered by Blogger
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home