These Ants Terrorise Everything — Even Gadgets

It should first be stated that these ants aren’t just crazy, they’re scientifically crazy. Known as the Rasberry Crazy Ant, they’ve garnered a reputation in the US for moving in massive colonies and destroying everything in their path. And they’re spreading.

The Crazy Any got its name from the way it tends to run around in circles… before it eats everything. Scientists believe it may have originated in the Caribbean and arrived on US shores back in the 1950s, but the species only became a recognised problem in 2002. By then, they’d reached Texas and just started swarming. Over the years, all residents had to do was walk outside and see literally hundreds of the ants running around erratically. And now they’ve moved into Louisiana.

The worst part is the damage they cause to electronics and equipment. They seem to love nesting in and eating computers by the thousands. And they’re resistant to extermination efforts because colonies are so large and they rebound so quickly — often in a matter of hours. They even take out fire ants… which might be seen as a good thing for some people, but still.

I keep thinking of that scene in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull with the killer ants (yeah I watched it, so what?). It might not be as terrifying as that in real life, but imagine seeing millions of ants just marching up your block. Scary, gross stuff. [Daily Mail]

Image: Andrew F. Kazmierski/Shutterstock