Crazy ants in Austin area

The invasive Caribbean crazy ant resembles a few
other ant species with its large colony sizes and "crazy"
 running behavior of individual ants. A positive
identification can best be done by the Texas
A&M Entomology lab in College Station.

The tiny crazy ant, known either as the Rasberry crazy ant or the Carribbean crazy ant, is now in the Austin area.  See the story from the Austin American Statesmen, for more information.  I won't say much about this except to note that this is thought to be a mostly tropical ant, and the general consensus is that it won't do as well where winters are cold and humidity is low.  Whether it will turn out to be a serious problem in relatively dry Austin, or whether it will establish as far north as Dallas is yet to be seen.

The Austin American Statesman article gives instructions for sending these to an entomologist in College Station for identification.  Also, you can check out the website at Texas A&M for more information on these little gals.

Crazy ant update

Rasberry or Caribbean crazy ants have been confirmed in
Travis County near the Burnet and Travis county
boundary. (Texas AgriLife Extension Service photo)

According to a story published yesterday in  AgriLife Today, College Station and Austin have recently been added to the list of county locations with confirmed identifications of the exotic, new crazy ant species, Nylanderia sp. near pubens.  As reported in an earlier post, this means that PMPs should be able to use the expanded Termidor label for perimeter applications of fipronil as ant barriers around homes in Travis and Brazos counties.  The Texas Department of Agriculture automatically extends the Section 18 amendment of the Termidor label when a new county is added to the list of infested counties.

Under the expanded label, Termidor applications may be made three feet up the side of a structure and 10 feet out (the standard label restricts applications to one foot up and one foot out), and may be made two times a year, no less than 60 days apart.  To be legal, however, you must have a copy of the label AND these Section 18 use directions.

This new exotic crazy ant has several common names including the Rasberry crazy ant (in Texas), the Caribbean crazy ant (Florida) and the hairy crazy ant (Louisiana and Mississippi).  A definitive study to confirm whether these ants are in fact the same species has yet to be published, but I suspect that when the dust clears they will all be the same.  A fresh cycle of news stories came out earlier this fall under the name "hairy crazy ant" confusing some people to think that there was yet another invasive ant.

Rasberry Crazy Ant Workshop

Last week I had the opportunity to participate in a day-long workshop on the so-called Rasberry crazy ant. Sponsored by the AgriLife Extension Service and held in the small town of West Columbia, TX, it attracted about 50 extension specialists, regulatory officials, Fish and Wildlife Department officials and community representatives. Rather than report in writing I thought I would try my hand at a video report, since still pictures and descriptions seem inadequate to convey a feel for what this ant does and is.

For more information about this ant and what we can recommend about its control, check out the site sponsored by the Center for Urban and Structural Entomology's site at http://urbanentomology.tamu.edu/ants/exotic_tx.cfm