Houston being overrun by electronics-killing ants

by Nilay Patel, posted May 15th 2008 at 2:36AM

We'll let you read the hed again -- nope, it's not a joke. Apparently millions of tiny swarming ants called "crazy raspberry ants" are causing quite a ruckus down in Houston after they accidentally arrived on board a cargo ship and started busily invading homes and offices, where they are attracted to electrical equipment. So far they've messed up sewage pumps, cause fire alarms to go haywire, destroyed computers, and taken out at least one gas meter -- and since they're resistant to over-the-counter ant killers and each colony has multiple queens, they're nearly impossible to kill. Worse, those that do die are used by the remaining ants as bridges over pesticide-treated areas. Yep -- that's insanely creepy. Anyone in Houston got any horror stories to share?