Pest Management Professional, September 2013

fact vs fiction TAWNY CRAZY ANTS Fiction I read in a tech article crazy ants are taking over the U S and all cell phones laptops and electronic devices are at risk Fact Crazy ants specifically the tawny crazy ant Nylanderia fulva are a neotropical species not found north of the Gulf of Mexico unless theyve been transported there by humans Unless you live in Texas Florida Mississippi or Louisiana or have visited one of those states and brought some home your electronics are safe for now But if you live in one of the aforementioned states the news isnt good Tawny crazy ants have a decided affinity and attraction to all things electrical boxes motor homes computers smartphones etc When one ant is electrocuted it waves its belly around in death throes if you want to impress people call it a gaster flagging and emits alarm pheromones that beckon other ants This results in piles of ants being electrocuted and bodies bridging and short circuiting a device On a large scale theyve caused power outages and have been responsible for about 146 million in damage in one year in Texas They also dont care how much your device costs One of the early strikes was at NASA Fiction Tawny crazy ants kill red imported fire ants RIFA Thats a good thing right Fact Poor RIFA Solenopsis invicta dont get love Theyve been around since 1930 and entire ecosystems have built up around them Now this upstart which doesnt even bite comes along and wipes them out of established areas and makes an impact on the rest of the species that depend on RIFA Tawny crazy ants more than make up for their lack of biting by their lack of boundaries For example a RIFA colony will establish next to a sidewalk and stay there Tawny crazy ants establish amoeba like colonies even supercolonies with multiple queens and a seemingly endless number of ants Theyre impressively adaptable in their harborage and will eat anything available They spread into wall voids furnishings homes hospitals businesses any space they find attractive On a large scale tawny crazy ants are capable of causing power outages and millions of dollars in damage Tawny crazy ants achieve densities 100 times greater than other ant species and can overwhelm and starve native insect species as well as long established non native RIFA The long term undesirable effect of this large biodiversity hole in an established natural system causes unpredictability Fiction Treatment for tawny crazy ants is the same as any other ant Fact Like almost all introduced species crazy ants dont have the natural predators in the U S they had back in their home in Brazil and Argentina Even more frustrating is the ineffectiveness of traditional ant management strategies to curb their numbers If part of a colony is destroyed its replaced quickly Contact insecticides used to create buffer zones are breeched within months Research finds these ants have no seasonal food preferences and show a decided partiality for food with a higher protein to carbohydrate ratio One of the new products on the market with imidacloprid as its active offers a custom bait matrix labeled for these ants Pest management professionals PMPs have become the first line of defense in protecting native species and preserving biodiversity Theyre usually the ones that notice an ant acting differently or a termite that doesnt look like the others As human activity moves species around in ways Mother Nature never intended the safety of ecosystems depends on professionals preventing exotic species from becoming invasive PMP You can reach the McGoverns at jeffreymcgovern@ mindspring com Kate Jeff McGovern t Contributors The tawny crazy ant is one of the more destructive immigrants of the pest world 102 September 2013 Pest Management Professional www mypmp net