So I don't know if you folks in other parts of the country have heard about it, but for about the past 5 years, Texans have been dealing with an invasion of an alien ant population. These are called Crazy Rasberry Ants. Crazy because they don't march in straight lines, and Rasberry for the exterminator who originally battled these diabolical little fiends in the Houston area starting about 5 years ago.
Apparently they are very similar to a Carribbean ant, though their exact origin is not known. They are smart little buggers, and apparently will pile up the carcasses of other dead ant
s to travel across areas where pesticide has been sprayed. One up-side of these ants is that they EAT fire ants. At least they aren't ALL bad.
s to travel across areas where pesticide has been sprayed. One up-side of these ants is that they EAT fire ants. At least they aren't ALL bad.The funny thing about them, though, is that Rasberry Ants like to eat the innards of electronics. Apparently they will eat the guts of your computer and other electronic equipment.
The thought of this, while strange and a little disturbing, set me to thinking. I loved the whole Terminator franchise of films in which fully mechanized factories and robotic, computery crap develop awareness and decide they really don't need to deal with humanity and its attendant bag of bullshit, so they set about exterminating humans.
I think it would be a lot of fun to see a post-apocalyptic, Terminator-style movie in which the humans have been eliminated and we can see the matcheens duke it out with Rasberry Ants and their ilk. I'd be betting on the insects, frankly.
I think it would be a lot of fun to see a post-apocalyptic, Terminator-style movie in which the humans have been eliminated and we can see the matcheens duke it out with Rasberry Ants and their ilk. I'd be betting on the insects, frankly.
10 comments:
Whoa! Maybe the ants are true aliens, probing our defenses, just waiting for the mothership to return and turn us all into goo.
This sounds like an excellent (albeit somewhat cliched) plot for an S/F novel or movie!
But what if they are self replicating nanobots programmed to destroy our electronic infrastructure by an evil dictator bent on world domination?
christina - I think you've got something there. Their little antennae are radioing signals to the Mother ship. We're oodscray.
perpatetic engineer - A very real possibility. Has anyone seen Mini-Me lately? Hmmmm...
Saw these on the local television box news yesterday. Here's a Youtube of a couple of the news broadcasts. Some say they prefer these to fire ants due to the sting. Me, I prefer the fire ants 'cause they won't cause electrical and electronic problems. I just keep putting out the Amdro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyLfSemVM3Y
Last I heard, Texas A&M was still doing work on the fire ant eradication with phorid flies, which are now being found in North Texas after having been released in controlled projects as far north as Oklahoma.
I've found the imported fire ants in electrical junction boxes and telephone junction boxes, so crazy ants don't have a corner on that market. Besides, I'm led to understand that crazy raspberry ants are predators of the fire ants as well. Maybe they (crazy ants) taste like harvester ants and horned lizards, whose primary diet was harvester ants, could start making a comeback.
Regards,
Rabbit.
Oh Gosh, I saw this on the news yesterday. It's like a Catch-22.
I think I'd just do everything I could to kill them all. LOL Raspberry and fire.
There is an old Clifford Simak novel called 'the city' in which the world is inhabited by robotic ants...best of both worlds!
You are too young to remember Pleghmy but when I was little there was this movie called "THEM" about giant killer ants that our babaysitter let us watch one night. I was only about 5, but it scared the *W#(@ out of me, and I slept with the lights on and a can of bug spray by my bed for a few nights.
I read about these little guys in the W.S.Journal last week (I'm running 1-2 weeks behind reading in them - which is better than my e-mails though). The article did say that they were at least predators of the fire ants - a little like swallowing the spider to catch the fly though.
Was "Them" the movie about gigantic ants in the LA rain diversion tunnels? I remember the Twilight Zone (I think that was the series) Zanties - bad boy humanoid ants from outer space. My own red ant wars have reached some sort of unspoken truce this year (touch wood, mind you).
Saw that on the news. Some dude with an arm covered with aunts. Thought "Surely those aren't fire ants", and of course, it's yet another foreign species that's swarming over everything. CRAP! Friggin’ Nutria and kudzu and shit wasn’t enough. Ain’t it great to be so interconnected with the world? And yea, the idea of super machines falling to bugs is funny, like germs killing the aliens in War of the Worlds.
Post a Comment