UPDATE: The NYT resists the appellation "rasberry":
Scientists do not quite know what to call them, they are so new. But folks in the damp coastal belt south of Houston have their own names (some of them printable) for the little invaders...Yeah, don't let some exterminator stick his name on these important ants — even if he does have a cool name. Speaking of having a name that's good for an ant, there's Paul Nester of Texas A&M University.
“We call them running ants,” said Diane Yeo, a homeowner...
The species, which bites but does not sting, was first identified here in 2002 by a Pearland exterminator, Tom Rasberry, who quickly lent his name to the find: the crazy rasberry ant.
“They’re the ant of all ants,” said Dr. Nester, who said they had infested five coastal counties, “and are moving about half a mile a year.”Oh, no! There the new killer bees — advancing on us!
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8 comments:
Tagalong scout girl breaking records.
Crazy raspberry ants.
Weren't these lyrics in a late Beatles song?
Having lived in Houston for five years the good thing I can say about these things is that they eat fire ants. And that is a good thing indeed.
Bring in an eatanter.
Here is an economics podcast on ants and division of labor . Discusses how colonies function to get things done without central planning.
It's interesting....really.
Yes, but what are they going to eat after they have eaten up all the fire ants? :-) eeeewww I hate ants.
Tagalong scout girl breaking records. Crazy raspberry ants.
Weren't these lyrics in a late Beatles song?
Yeah, I think it was one of those lengthy sitar ones by George Harrison that nobody listens to. :)
ants
dont get me started about ants
after rats they are my biggest worry
just when you think you found a meatball behind the stove
and are settling down to a nice italian dinner
here they come
you have like 3 seconds to bail
otherwise they swarm all over you aarghh
and some of them could devour you
yes they will
a rat is like a samurai
he may be lethal but its single combat
and at least there is some honor among rats
ants are collectivists like communists or fascists
the really dangerous ones are red
in case you think im racist i will tell you
the black ones are nothing like black people
they are like nazis and bikers who sometimes make a fuss
but are mostly irritants going to militia meetings etc
except you run into skinhead ants sometimes
and it looks like they have taliban ants going on down in texas
and dont you believe a word about jerry mccormick
robert frost makes those ants sound like new deal bureaucrats
just working to cut a relief check for pa joad
all departmental and not ungentle etc
nonsense
they were red and the year was 1936
do i have to paint a picture...
modern red ants dont have it so easy however
no uncle joe in moscow to work for
they dont know which way to go
they are scurrying around in crazy directions just like
their fascist cousins in texas
good luck telling the difference
Weekly World News responded to killer bees with killer trees.
These trees walked, albeit very slowly, so they were a threat chiefly to the very young and the very old. They had escaped from a lab in Brazil and were working their way north.
Photo page one.
Then a year later the Brazilian needle bird escaped as well. These had a needle for a beak and injected a poison. Photo also page one.
Fortunately cold weather seems to have fended them both off.
Back page, world's smallest whales (pic, 5 gal aquarium with six whales).
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