Computer Bugs On The March In Houston
Not the usual software glitches, either. We're talking about the real deal - the things that computer "bugs" were named for - real bugs. In this case ants - and lots of them.
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.
The newly recognized species is believed to have arrived in a cargo shipment through the port of Houston. Scientists are not sure exactly where the ants came from, but their cousins, commonly called crazy ants, are found in the Southeast and the Caribbean.
Looks like someone let the crazy ant out of the attic, so to speak. Seriously, invasive species are becoming a real problem in this country. These ants are resistant to over the counter ant poisons and are very difficult to get rid of. They have also been spotted near the Johnson Space Center. It would be a rather bad thing if they invaded that particular place. Houston, we have a problem, indeed.
By Mockinbird, Thursday, 15 May , 2008 @ 11:23 am
Just spray ‘em with hot sauce and pop ‘em in the microwave. They’re a great snack.
By rudytbone, Thursday, 15 May , 2008 @ 5:49 pm
Great….just what we need. More illegal immigrants