Local pest control specialists are warning residents about an invasive species of ant active during the summer months that can cause significant damage to electronics and is increasingly difficult to exterminate.

The tawny crazy ant, also known as the Rasberry crazy ant, is native to South America. It’s lived in some Southern states for more than a half-century but in recent decades has been spreading throughout the Gulf Coast.

The ants — first identified in Louisiana in 2011, in Sulphur — get their name from their erratic movements.

“The main problem with them is they are large colonies and have millions of foraging ants,” said Keith Dubroc of McKenzie Pest Control.

“They don’t sting or bite, but they’re attracted to electrical and magnetic fields. Industrial facilities tend to have major problems with them.”

Other ants are also drawn to electrical devices like car stereos, televisions and circuit boxes. But tawny crazy ants, with numbers on their side, can overwhelm the circuitry in the devices they invade.

Their populations explode during the hotter summer months, Dubroc said, and the ants have shut down air conditioning units of homes and even caused chemical plants to temporarily shut down.

Corrosion and mechanical failures are caused by the constant accumulation of dead ants and nesting materials. Some entomologists say the insects are attracted to the warmth of the electronic devices.

“They’re more of a nuisance. You find very few inside of a home because the majority remain outside,” he said. “They don’t like cool temperatures. Usually about the end of May each year, we start seeing them. In the fall, they tend to go away.”

Tawny crazy ants compete for resources with fire ants, but the fire ants’ venom has little effect on crazy ants, which coat themselves with formic acid as an antidote.

Dubroc said the ants are immune to typical pest control solutions, making them difficult to exterminate.

In Louisiana, a special local label allows pest control companies to treat around structures to control the populations. Termidor — typically used for termites — is used to control the crazy ants.

 

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