There might not be any sharks swimming down the Houston freeway, but there are massive clusters of fire ants floating in the flood waters. Apparently floods are an ideal mode of transportation for the ants, which are capable of clumping together to form what The Atlantic described as "living rafts."
To survive, the ants float around in globs until they once again reach dry ground. "They actually love floods," Alex Wild, curator of entomology at University of Texas at Austin, told The Atlantic. "It's how they get around."
And in case floating mats of fire ants weren't terrifying enough, the flooding makes the fire ants "more aggressive and dangerous," The Atlantic reported. In fact, a 2011 study found that flooded fire ants "have 165 percent as much venom inside them as normal fire ants," making their already awful bites particularly brutal.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
These vicious flooded ants have an unexpected enemy though: dish soap. "Dawn is a not a registered insecticide, but it will break up the surface tension and they will sink," advised Louisiana State University entomologist Linda Bui.
Learn more about the fire ants rafting around Houston at The Atlantic.
-
Nepal chooses toddler as its new ‘living goddess’Under the Radar Girls between two and four are typically chosen to live inside the temple as the Kumari – until puberty strikes
-
October 5 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday's political cartoons include half-truth hucksters, Capitol lockdown, and more
-
Jaguar Land Rover’s cyber bailoutTalking Point Should the government do more to protect business from the ‘cyber shockwave’?
-
US tipped to help Kyiv strike Russian energy sitesSpeed Read Trump has approved providing Ukraine with intelligence for missile strikes on Russian energy infrastructure
-
Netanyahu agrees to Trump’s new Gaza peace planSpeed Read At President Trump's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, they agreed upon a plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Moldova gives decisive win to pro-EU partySpeed Read The country is now on track to join the European Union within five years
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
UK, 3 Western allies recognize Palestinian stateSpeed Read Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal formally recognized the state of Palestine
-
Russia slams Kyiv, hits government buildingSpeed Read This was Moscow's largest aerial assault since launching its full-scale invasion in 2022
-
China's Xi hosts Modi, Putin, Kim in challenge to USSpeed Read Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Asian leaders at an SCO summit
