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July 1, 2008 4:30 pm CST Dallas,
Texas ePest News
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in 2002 a Texas exterminator found what he thought was a new ant
species. Tom Rasberry of Budget Pest Control in Pearland, Texas was doing battle against a
very invasive ant species
that didn't seem to respond to normal pesticide treatments. In fact this
new ant was what sounds like a really low-budget horror film. They were ferocious swarming
ants that apparently arrived in Texas aboard a cargo ship invading homes and
yards across the Houston area, shorting out electrical boxes and even NASA's
computers. This small goldish reddish brown ant with a glossy body and shiny
hairs was a new ant he had never seen, and researchers in Texas had never seen.
So it was deemed the "Crazy Rasberry Ant" in honor of Tom Rasberry who
originally found it.
However, according to experts, the reddish brown, hairy, fast moving ant that is
plaguing south
Texas Counties could be a "unicolonial offspring" of the famous Caribbean Crazy
Ant. In Florida and across the Caribbean this ant is known as
the Caribbean Crazy Ant or scientifically as Paratrechina Pubens and was
found in Coral Gables, Florida and in Miami, Florida in 1953.
Experts are wondering if this ant could be the exact same species of the Caribbean Crazy Ant
or an adaptation of it. All ants are capable of genetic mutations.
They can change and adapt to their environment over time. The Caribbean Crazy Ant
was
originally identified over 100 years ago in St. Vincent, Lesser
Antilles, and has been found on other West Indian islands, including Anguilla,
Guadeloupe, and Puerto Rico. It has just now made its way to Texas and
will drive Texans crazy just like it has Florida residents.
The Crazy Rasberry Ant has been found in 5 counties near Houston since 2002.
The colony size is enormous with 50 million ants per acre being reported.
They swarm into electrical boxes, computers, TV's, anything electronic. The
shear number of them will cause electrical devices to short out. They reportedly caused
3 computers to short out at NASA in Houston. IT Techs at NASA reported
hundreds of dead ants falling out of computers that had shorted out.
Homeowners have reported sweeping up dust pans full of dead ants.
While all the hoopla concerning controlling the Crazy Rasberry Ant has made National News and
drove some people to request that stronger pesticides be made legal for use, an organically certified solution
has been specifically developed for the
Caribbean Crazy Ant, Crazy Rasberry Ant and other exotic, invasive hard to
control ant species.
It's called "Ant Pro" and it works by giving them
exactly what they are looking for which is sweet sugary citrus food.
The "Ant Pro" device dispenses a small amount of a naturally based ant killer
mixed into a citrus based attractant. They want sweet citrus based food, but
because ants don't eat solid foods, only liquids, the "Ant Pro" dispenser delivers exactly
the right amount of liquid bait over an extended period of time that will kill
and control them.
Ron Dawson with ePestSupply in Dallas, Texas says that his sales of the "Ant Pro" ant bait dispenser have
increased this year
along the coastal areas of Texas near Houston primarily due to Crazy Rasberry Ants
and also the Rover Ant - Brachymyrmex Spp. Sprays and over
the counter baits only tend to make them worse because they reproduce faster and
spread faster. "We have a product that not only controls Caribbean Crazy Ants
and Crazy Rasberry Ants, but also controls other exotic and highly invasive ants
such as White Footed Ants, Ghost Ants, Argentine Ants, Carpenter Ants, Fire Ants
and many more. The fact that it utilizes nature based products instead of
conventional pesticides is important says Ron". "The ants won't be able to
adapt and grow resistant to it" he also said.
While "Ant Pro's" are extremely popular with Homeowners, they are also popular
in agricultural settings such as food
crops, vineyards and other similar areas where normal pesticides are not
effective and may not be legal for use. The State of California has given
"Ant Pro" an Organic Certification and it is in use in
hundreds of Vineyards and crop farms from Florida to Texas to California.
"Ant Pro" liquid
ant bait dispensers are available through several hardware and farm stores in
South Florida and Southern California and available exclusively online at
ePestSupply.com.
Additional Links
University of Florida - Rover Ants
University of Florida - Caribbean Crazy Ants
KM Ant Pro
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