Crazy Ants Attack Louisiana, Mississippi
Hairy, horrifying, crazy ants moves from Texas to Louisiana, Mississippi causing damage from beehives, could affects agriculture to shorting out industrial equipment.
The ants whose scientific name is Nylanderia pubens, first seen in Florida in the '50s and in Texas in 2002. Now they are moving and posing a threat to Louisiana.
A pest control agency in Sulphur sent a sample of the "hairy crazy ants" to the Louisiana State Arthropod Museum, where curator Victoria Bayless identified the species for the first time in Louisiana and said that the speed of their migration into the rest of Louisiana is unpredictable because of the new climate.
Bayless said the main difference between this species and other ant species is the size of the colonies. A single colony can contain millions of the pests because there are multiple queens, or head ants, that work together.
Hairy crazy ants have also been reported in walls of houses, she said. They can cause electrical shortages as they accumulate in large numbers. Its bite also cause similar allergic reactions to other ant bites.
Bayless further said that hairy crazy ants reproduce rapidly and do not respond to normal pest control methods and researchers have not yet found a way to prevent or get rid of the ants.
Photo: APThe ants whose scientific name is Nylanderia pubens, first seen in Florida in the '50s and in Texas in 2002. Now they are moving and posing a threat to Louisiana.
A pest control agency in Sulphur sent a sample of the "hairy crazy ants" to the Louisiana State Arthropod Museum, where curator Victoria Bayless identified the species for the first time in Louisiana and said that the speed of their migration into the rest of Louisiana is unpredictable because of the new climate.
Bayless said the main difference between this species and other ant species is the size of the colonies. A single colony can contain millions of the pests because there are multiple queens, or head ants, that work together.
Hairy crazy ants have also been reported in walls of houses, she said. They can cause electrical shortages as they accumulate in large numbers. Its bite also cause similar allergic reactions to other ant bites.
Bayless further said that hairy crazy ants reproduce rapidly and do not respond to normal pest control methods and researchers have not yet found a way to prevent or get rid of the ants.
Video: FOX