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Electronics-Loving 'Crazy Ants' Invading Southern US

Posted by timothy on from the but-ants-are-nice dept.

From an article at the Houston Chronicle (not The Onion) comes a report of concern to anyone in a warm climate with, well, electronics. From the article: "According to researchers at The University of Texas at Austin, invasive 'crazy ants' are slowly displacing fire ants in the southeastern United States. These 'Tawny Crazy Ants' have a peculiar predilection toward electronics as well. 'They nest in electronics and create short circuits, as they create a contact bridge between two points when they get electrocuted they release an alarm pheromone,' says UT research assistant Edward LeBrun. 'The other ants are attracted to the chemicals that other ants give off,' he adds. At this point, more ants arrive and create a larger nest." The L.A. Times also has a report, which says "Thus far, the crazy ants are not falling for the traditional poisons used to eliminate fire ant mounds. And when local mounds are destroyed manually, they are quickly regenerated. 'They don't sting like fire ants do, but aside from that they are much bigger pests,' LeBrun said. 'There are videos on YouTube of people sweeping out dustpans full of these ants from their bathroom. You have to call pest control operators every three or four months just to keep the infestation under control. It's very expensive.'"

29 of 250 comments (clear)

  1. Controlling infestations by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The problem really relies on the chemical trail ants leave to alert others where to go. If you have an ant problem you need to not only kill the ones present but you need to eliminate the trails they leave. Indoors bleaching the hell out of the surfaces they walk across regularly helps a lot. Out doors you really are screwed unless you want to start digging stuff up.

    1. Re:Controlling infestations by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      A bucket full of ants and you suggest simple 'disposal'. My god man, you have *a bucket full of ants*! The mind reels at the possibilities!

    2. Re:Controlling infestations by Immerman · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Or as an alternative - when you find an "ant highway" entering your home crush some of them and smear them around the area where they are entering. It may not work for all species, but for most it seems to effectively communicate that this is not a healthy place to be in their native "language". I've never used pesticides of any sort, and rarely have more than a couple brief (under 48 hour) "invasions" per year. Then again I also allow spiders, house centipedes, and other human-harmless predators to live unmolested in my home as long as long as they keep a low profile (my cat does most of the enforcing on that front), so it probably doesn't have nearly the "land of milk and honey" appeal of many modern homes to begin with.

      Probably wouldn't work for crazy ants though, sounds like their death phermones actively attract more ants, though perhaps it's electrocution specifically that has that effect.

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    3. Re:Controlling infestations by Mashiki · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I've got a place in Florida(the land of cockroaches, more cockroaches, ants, and now invasive species), stepping on ants might work with some species but for most barrier protection works best. And same with plain old baiting to kill them, especially fire ants. Up here in Ontario, stepping on paths works on some of the carpenter ants as well, but not all of them. Doesn't work on the pavement ants all the time either, depends on how hungry they are. You're better off using again a good barrier type spray. In anycase, it'll be interesting to see how we deal with these ones. I'm guessing that if they're that sensitive and drawn to electronics, the answer will be discovering something that drives them away, and just slapping one at your house.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    4. Re:Controlling infestations by Donald+R.+Weimann · · Score: 5, Informative

      Find the ant mounds and sprinkle some cornmeal around them. They will take the cornmeal into the nest and all the ants, including the queen, will eat it. They can eat it but they cannot digest it so they will all die. If enough people would do this it could eliminate the ant problem. It has worked very well on all of the fire ant mounds that I have doctored in this way.

    5. Re:Controlling infestations by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Or if they are picky eaters, just use a mixture of boric acid and sugar, sometimes mixed with water. A puddle sometimes drowns some of the ants so they don't report it back, but a paper towel soaked in it works. The nice thing is boric acid has an lethal dosage for mammals larger than that of table salt, so it is reasonably safe around pets and humans in that quantity, but it is pretty destructive to ants. Straight powder dumped across entrances and trails works really well as deterrent too.

  2. What do these things eat? by anubi · · Score: 4, Interesting

    That is my first concern. If they eat wood, its bad news... really bad news. If they eat other bugs, I am gonna leave them alone.

    If they like termites, where can I get some?

    --
    "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]

    1. Re:What do these things eat? by Immerman · · Score: 5, Informative

      Sounds like they eat mostly bugs, grains, and small animals.

      For natural pest control may I suggest house centipedes? Those fast, long-legged, grey-brown guys with the racing stripes. They are non-aggressive and typically incapable of stinging humans until they get quite large (they can live for almost a decade), they carry no known human diseases or parasites, and are voracious hunters whose favorite prey include termites, silverfish, bedbugs, and young cockroachs. And unlike ants they're completely uninterested in your food.

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      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    2. Re:What do these things eat? by Immerman · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Hell yes I have (well stung technically, centipedes don't bite). Nasty little bastards. But house cenitpedes are to "normal" centipedes what daddy longlegs are to spiders. As a general rule they can't penetrate human skin to deliver their venom, and they're non-aggressive - as long as you're gentle you can even pick them up and play with them without them trying to attack you.

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      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    3. Re:What do these things eat? by Immerman · · Score: 4, Funny

      Aww come on, as bugs go it's almost cute. Like the love child of a spider and caterpillar.

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      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    4. Re:What do these things eat? by Immerman · · Score: 3, Insightful

      In fairness a house centipede is a very different breed than most - probably one of the few species that can outrun an ant. Hell, they can catch cockroaches so you know they're fast. Still probably wouldn't fair well if cornered by a swarm, but ants are in fact part of their normal diet.

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      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    5. Re:What do these things eat? by Immerman · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Heh heh.

      In seriousness though, why would you object to a house centipede infestation? They're harmless and provide a valuable service. If you have enough of them to really be considered an infestation then that's practically a guarantee that you have a serious infestation of something far more objectionable that they're chowing down on. When that infestation is gone the vast majority of centipedes will go looking for greener pastures. It's like a farmer complaining about the cat infestation in his grain silo.

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      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
    6. Re:What do these things eat? by Immerman · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Congratulations, sounds like your cockroach, termite, or other infestation won't last long (or your neighbor's infestation is being held in check).

      I don't actually know all that much about centipedes in general, I've just become enamored of house centipedes, especially after spending a couple years in Denver where bedbugs are making a serious comeback (seriously annoying little critters - immune to cleanliness, bait, and just about any poison short of DDT.) I agree on the second one - in fact it looked like it already had most of it's legs ripped off. As for the first, maybe it just got unlucky? It appeared to be stuck on it's back, probably the cameraman dropped it into an existing swarm. And really most centipedes aren't actually all that fast, just look at the size and shape of the legs - house centipedes are built to RUN, whereas most species are more like heavily armored caterpillar tanks.

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      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
  3. ants and electricity by Black+Parrot · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I've long noticed that ants seem to have a predilection for electricity. They crawl all over electrical conduits, enter homes at electrical outlets, etc.

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    1. Re:ants and electricity by girlintraining · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I've long noticed that ants seem to have a predilection for electricity. They crawl all over electrical conduits, enter homes at electrical outlets, etc.

      It's because they can sense electromagnetic fields, which all electronics give off. Of course, the solution for dealing with these new ants is simple, but counterintuitive -- spray everything with this 'alarm' pheremone. If ants navigate by scent trail, and that's how they rebuild their nests, and it's too challenging to remove the scent trails... then you are left with only one option:

      Blind the little bastards by coating everything in it. It's my understanding that, without those trails, they'll be helpless to organize to find food, each other, or even the way home. Everything depends on those trails... so if you overload their sense organs and blind them, they'll perish. After they're dead, the pheremones sprayed will slowly dissipate, but importantly... the trails they've laid down will dissipate faster, so the area is then chemically neutral again.

      It is, quite literally, chemical warfare. (-_-)

      --
      #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
  4. Evolution... by houbou · · Score: 4, Funny

    Even the ants want to travel the electronic highway.. :)

  5. Here's a solution by houbou · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Use those old Cisco routers from 10 yrs ago... as ant baits! :)

  6. Bad ant strategy? by venicebeach · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Seems like having a predilection for something that kills you is not an instinct that should be selected for. If they are electrocuted by the electronics shouldn't this problem take care of itself sooner or later?

  7. Re:Air-Condition Compressors by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Kinda pisses people off that nothing is actually broken but the service bill is tendered, just the same.

    There is a bill because there was "service". If the homeowner wants to hassle with tracking down the issue and clean out the dead ants, they can.

    --
    If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
  8. Re:Depends on the electronics by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 3, Funny

    Bah, if your computer is infested with ants, you need to call upon mavens to eliminate them.

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    Ezekiel 23:20
  9. Re:Depends on the electronics by Mitchell314 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Or just file a bug report online.

    --
    I read TFA and all I got was this lousy cookie
  10. Good idea! by SeaFox · · Score: 4, Funny

    "...as they create a contact bridge between two points when they get electrocuted they release an alarm pheromone," says UT research assistant Edward LeBrun. "The other ants are attracted to the chemicals that other ants give off," he adds.

    What kind of survival mechanism is that? "Oh! There's danger over there. Let's all go check it out..."

    1. Re:Good idea! by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Informative

      "...as they create a contact bridge between two points when they get electrocuted they release an alarm pheromone," says UT research assistant Edward LeBrun. "The other ants are attracted to the chemicals that other ants give off," he adds.

      What kind of survival mechanism is that? "Oh! There's danger over there. Let's all go check it out..."

      Given that(among the ants that don't have even cooler mechanisms, like specialized suicide soldiers who blow themselves up to shower the enemy with toxins) "swarm the enemy and keep biting and stinging without regards for casualties until nothing that isn't us is still moving" is considered a valid strategy, the chemical signalling actually makes sense: If an ant from another colony, or a predatory insect/arachnid, attacks a single ant, the ant's body automatically releases the alarm pheremone and the attacker gets zerg rushed.

      It's just that, against implacable electronics that are totally indifferent to anything except being insulated by the uncounted bodies of the slain, this tactic doesn't work very well(see also: mammals that 'freeze' to avoid predators; but discover that cars aren't visual hunters; but they do kill anything that gets in their way)...

    2. Re:Good idea! by fazookus · · Score: 4, Funny

      Hold my beer and watch this! Those would be your red neck ants.

    3. Re:Good idea! by Hognoxious · · Score: 3, Informative

      It's more like "Someone's in our base killing our doodz. Let's go give him a good shoeing!".

      Also, soldier and worker ants don't reproduce. The way they propagate their genes is by proxy, through the queen, so that explains their willingness to sacrifice themselves to protect her - hence the banzai charge. The genetics of ants (and wasps & bees) is odd. If you're one of the sterile castes the queen is more related to you than you are. Or something like that.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  11. Electric bug zapper by flyingfsck · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It sounds like all one needs is a large electric bug zapper since they are already attracted to it.

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    Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
  12. You had me at.. by buddyglass · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You had me at "They don't sting like fire ants do...".

  13. Re:Depends on the electronics by dynamo52 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Maybe folks should think about keeping anteaters as household pets

    This wouldn't work. These ants don't live anywhere cold enough to freeze the gorillas.

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  14. Re:I don't miss fire ants by dorpus · · Score: 3, Informative

    Fire ants do interbreed.

    http://www.caes.uga.edu/commodities/fieldcrops/forages/events/FC13/03/ANR-1248%20Fire%20ants%20and%20cattle.pdf
    http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2012/07/fire_ants_joes_outdoor_office.html
    http://books.google.com/books?id=vxt5BqOKEAIC&pg=PA510&lpg=PA510&dq=fire+ants+interbreed&source=bl&ots=8eWZaSkLp_&sig=uJHTanPl1LV7mhieoReC1eX0plc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=dwiYUdimJ-rI0gHttIGwBQ&ved=0CEwQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=fire%20ants%20interbreed&f=false

    Also, they do bite before stinging.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_ants

    Different plant "species", such as of pine, do interbreed as well. The distinction of species vs. sub-species is often blurred in the wild.