'Crazy' Ants Driving Out Fire Ants in Southeast

An illustration shows the tawny crazy ant, a South American invasive species that first was found in Texas in 2002 and since has spread to at least three other Gulf Coast states. (Joe MacGown / Mississippi Entomological Museum)[illustration]

Douglas Main, Staff Writer, LiveScience: 
Invasive fire ants have been a thorn in the sides of Southerners for years. But another invasive species, the so-called "crazy" ant — that many describe as being worse — has arrived and is displacing fire ants in several places. "When you talk to folks who live in the invaded areas, they tell you they want their fire ants back," said Edward LeBrun, a researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, in a statement from the school. "Fire ants are in many ways very polite. They live in your yard. They form mounds and stay there, and they only interact with you if you step on their mound."
Crazy ants, on the other hand, "go everywhere," invading homes and nesting in walls and crawlspaces, even damaging electrical equipment by swarming inside appliances. [Image Gallery: Ants of the World]...Continue reading... See also: Invasion of the Crazy Ants