Ants swarm over Houston area, fouling electronics

sonias

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-14-08 02:16 PM
Original message

Ants swarm over Houston area, fouling electronics

AAS 5/14/08
Ants swarm over Houston area, fouling electronics

DALLAS — In what sounds like a really low-budget horror film, voracious swarming ants that apparently arrived in Texas aboard a cargo ship are invading homes and yards across the Houston area, shorting out electrical boxes and messing up computers.

The hairy, reddish-brown creatures are known as "crazy rasberry ants" — crazy, because they wander erratically instead of marching in regimented lines, and "rasberry" after Tom Rasberry, an exterminator who did battle against them early on.

"They're itty-bitty things about the size of fleas, and they're just running everywhere," said Patsy Morphew of Pearland, who is constantly sweeping them off her patio and scooping them out of her pool by the cupful. "There's just thousands and thousands of them. If you've seen a car racing, that's how they are. They're going fast, fast, fast. They're crazy."

The ants — formally known as "paratrenicha species near pubens" — have spread to five Houston-area counties since they were first spotted in Texas in 2002.

Oh those damn rasberry pubens! Seriously, this would be a pain in the ass if you got'em.

Sonia

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

flamin lib

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-14-08 03:55 PM
Response to Original message

1. I'm familiar with the critters as far north as the Dallas Metroplex.

I've had good luck with a mixture of sugarwater and boric acid. Boric acid is available in most drug stores. They love the stuff and will carry it home to feed everybody else. They can be picky about flavor so you may want to try various jellies and jams as well.

I use boric acid to take care of roaches too. Mix it with sweetened evaporated milk to a medium doughy consistency and roll small balls of it under appliances and into corners. It won't keep 'em out but they sure don't last long once they find it and it lasts for years.

No worry for pets or children--it would take a LOT of it to do any damage.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

tbyg52

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-14-08 05:42 PM
Response to Reply #1

2. Thanks for the tips!

We occasionally have "crazy ants" where I work. Not the massive amounts of them described in the OP, though.

As long as we're talking about insects, I'll repeat my fire ant advice for any who didn't see it when I first discovered it - Conserve, or spinosad. Can be used in organic gardens!
http://fireant.tamu.edu/broadcastbait/products/organic.cfm

TAMU says it's variable in effectiveness, but I haven't found it so - for me, it wipes out small mounds virtually overnight and the large ones I let go for years have shrunk dramatically (I'm still working on them).

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

sonias

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Wed May-14-08 09:38 PM
Response to Reply #1

3. I think you have a product line!

"Flamin lib's boric acid insect treatment". (I was going to say boric acid balls!) All natural - until the time of the insect's demise. :rofl:

I love that you tried various jellies and jams to try to please their pallets. Very nice of you to give them that one last good meal.

I'm going to try some for those darn palmetto bugs that keep coming into the washroom. :applause:

Sonia

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

DU AdBot (1000+ posts)

Mon May 13th 2024, 11:16 PM
Response to Original message

Advertisements [?]

Top

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators

Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.