float away

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Worldwide there are over 280 species of stinging ant but the one that has my area most on edge is a species of fire ant, or more properly red imported fire ant (or RIFA), Solenopsis invicta.

Although most fire ant species do not bother people and are not problematic, RIFA is a different story. They bite your leg to get a grip and then deliver a painful sting like a bee. (Yes. Bite and sting at the same time. If they could fly a Blackhawk helicopter they'd be a serious threat to anyone in the world.) It has become a highly invasive pest in many areas of the world, notably the United States, Australia, the Philippines, China and Taiwan.

The RIFA was accidentally introduced into the U.S. aboard a South American cargo ship docked at Mobile, Alabama, in the 1930s. Now it infests the majority of the South and the American Southwest. And, I might add, moving closer to my home every day.

You might think with all the flooding in the South, that the pesky, biting ants would be drowned.

Not so.

My friend Lynne Davis sent me this story. Her nephew Tim Nowack, a student at Georgia Tech, has been helping with research that proves the feisty insects are very crafty in high water. They simply build a raft and float away. For the complete story go to float away.





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