http://news.yahoo.com/hairy-crazy-a...=NONJS_POST_SUCCESS#ugccmt-post-frm-container
The ants are slowly traveling in places like Florida,Mississippi, Texas, etc. They emit some kind of pherenome when attacked. Then the colony attacks the attacker. The ants also bite.
Good luck if you live in the south.
The ants are probably native to South America, MacGown said. But they were recorded in the Caribbean by the late 19th century, said Jeff Keularts, an extension associate professor at the University of the Virgin Islands. That's how they got the nickname "Caribbean crazy ants." They've also become known as Rasberry crazy ants, after the exterminator.
Now they're making their way through parts of the Southeast. Florida had the ants in about five counties in 2000 but today is up to 20, MacGown said. Nine years after first being spotted in Texas, that state now has them in 18 counties. So far, they have been found in two counties in Mississippi and at least one Louisiana parish.
Texas has temporarily approved two chemicals in its effort to control the ants, and other states are looking at ways to curb their spread.
Controlling them can be tricky. Rasberry said he's worked jobs where other exterminators had already tried and failed. Gold said some infestations have been traced to hay bales hauled from one place to another for livestock left without grass by the drought that has plagued Texas.
MacGown said he hopes their numbers are curbed in Louisiana and Mississippi before it's too late.
The hairy crazy ants do wipe out one pest — fire ants — but that's cold comfort.
"I prefer fire ants to these," MacGown said. "I can avoid a fire ant colony."
The ants are slowly traveling in places like Florida,Mississippi, Texas, etc. They emit some kind of pherenome when attacked. Then the colony attacks the attacker. The ants also bite.
Good luck if you live in the south.
The ants are probably native to South America, MacGown said. But they were recorded in the Caribbean by the late 19th century, said Jeff Keularts, an extension associate professor at the University of the Virgin Islands. That's how they got the nickname "Caribbean crazy ants." They've also become known as Rasberry crazy ants, after the exterminator.
Now they're making their way through parts of the Southeast. Florida had the ants in about five counties in 2000 but today is up to 20, MacGown said. Nine years after first being spotted in Texas, that state now has them in 18 counties. So far, they have been found in two counties in Mississippi and at least one Louisiana parish.
Texas has temporarily approved two chemicals in its effort to control the ants, and other states are looking at ways to curb their spread.
Controlling them can be tricky. Rasberry said he's worked jobs where other exterminators had already tried and failed. Gold said some infestations have been traced to hay bales hauled from one place to another for livestock left without grass by the drought that has plagued Texas.
MacGown said he hopes their numbers are curbed in Louisiana and Mississippi before it's too late.
The hairy crazy ants do wipe out one pest — fire ants — but that's cold comfort.
"I prefer fire ants to these," MacGown said. "I can avoid a fire ant colony."
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