A few years ago, some creatures about the size of a grain of rice, caught a ride on a cargo ship docked in one of the Caribbean ports and disembarked, unnoticed, at the port of Houston, Texas. Their adopted home was so hospitable, they fed, bred and multiplied into billions, until now the pests are so numerous, they’re terrorizing homeowners and businesses.
Exterminator Tom Rasberry first identified the hairy, reddish-brown ants back in 2002 and began doing battle with them. Unsuccessfully, to date. Pesticides that work on similar species have been ineffective on these critters from hell. But the exterminator’s battle became so associated with them that they’re now known as “Rasberry Ants.”
They began to get people’s attention when their little bodies piled up in electrical boxes, which caused them to short out. Businesses noticed they were messing up their computers because of their attraction to electrical equipment.
They have ruined pumps at sewage pumping stations, fouled at least one homeowner’s gas meter, and caused fire alarms to malfunction. They have been spotted at NASA’s Johnson Space Center and close to Hobby Airport, though they haven’t caused any major problems there yet.
Roger Gold, a Texas A&M University entomologist said it is nearly impossible to eradicate the ant because it is so widely dispersed. There seems to be only one silver lining and that even has its downside. They eat fire ants – but they also suck the sweet juices from plants, feed on as ladybugs, and eat the hatchlings of a small, endangered type of grouse known as the Attwater prairie chicken. They also bite humans, though not with a stinger like fire ants.
They are canny adversaries. Since each colony has several queens, it’s nearly impossible to eradicate them by killing the queen. And when they are killed, the survivors pile up the dead and used them as a bridge to cross safely over pesticide-coated surfaces. The Texas Department of Agriculture is working with A&M researchers and the EPA on how to stop the ants. It is hoped the ban on stronger pesticides could be lifted so the invasion could be halted once and for all.