Those Pesky Ants!
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They are just one-eight of an inch in size, but these tiny red ants called "Crazy Raspberry Ants" are driving people in Houston, Texas - well, a little crazy! Nobody knows where they came from, but they are invading homes and yards by the billions.
The ants are called 'crazy" because they do not walk in a single file like other ants, but run around helter-skelter. They got the name "rasberry" from the man pictured here. He is an exterminator called Tom Rasberry, who was one of the first persons to try get rid of them.
Scientist believe that the ants, who were first seen in Texas a few years ago arrived in a cargo shipment from overseas, possibly the Caribbean, where similar ants have been seen.
The good news is that these ants eat fire ants: ants that sting human beings and are very common in Texas during summer. However, they also suck plant juices and feed on good insects like ladybugs.
The worst part however is that they seem to love electrical equipment. They are messing up computers, causing fire alarms to malfunction and shorting out electrical boxes.
The ants are resistant to normal household ant sprays. They also seem to be pretty smart. They don't take bait that is left in traps and when some of them do die, the survivors pile them up and use their bodies as a bridge to get across to surfaces free of pesticide. Even exterminators are having a hard time getting rid of them.
These pesky little ants are becoming such a serious problem that the Department of Agriculture is working with researchers from Texas A&M University and the Environmental Protection Agency to try figure out what to do! We hope they are able to get rid of them before they spread to other parts of the country!
Sources: Dallas Morning News, Physorg.com, ChicagoTribune.org
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51 Comments
- NADIAabout 12 yearsWow! Those ants are very smart. How do they know not to go into traps? I knew that do die. What is the Caribbean?
drayko42almost 12 yearsThe Caribbean is a sea and a group of islands.
- arianna 13about 12 yearsi learned that the ants eat red ants.They also cut eleshrie in boxesin plases.i want to now how long have they been arond
- JOelabout 12 yearsI cant belive those pesky little creatures took down an extermenator!
- Brianna Eabout 12 yearsI learned raseberry ants and they are just one eight of an inch
- Liamabout 12 yearsI know about the ants in Texas! They are about to cross over to Louisiana! How did they multiply so fast? I had no idea that they are smart! I hope that they stop them!
- Alexisabout 12 yearsI know that the ants were called crazy raspberry ants. Do they affect peoples a motion? They affect computers and electricity thats what is crazy! I found out they are pretty smart.
rlolmaugh38about 12 yearsI learned a new word Caribbean which means the region consisting of the Caribbean sea. I learned that Crazy Raspberry can make coputers and other elctronics never work. How did the man get the ants away?- Trevorabout 12 yearsI learned that the Rasberry Ants were first spotted in Texas.A new word I learned is malfunction it means that they are out of control.My question is that if they new that they would go out of control they why did they take them back home with them.
- Dulce 19about 12 yearsI learned that the ants are called crazy rasberry ants because the don't walk in a single line.One word that I learned is exterminator and it means that they are people who study insects.A question that I still have is that how are they addicted to electricity.
- Logan 21about 12 yearsI learned that rasberry ant love electrical. A new word is rasberry ants. How do the ants chew the electrical.