Huge clumps of fire ants are floating around Houston's flooded streets
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.
Subscribe to 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.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Today's political cartoons - April 20, 2024
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - papal ideas, high-powered debates, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 sleeper hit cartoons about Trump's struggles to stay awake in court
Cartoons Artists take on courtroom tranquility, war on wokeness, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The true story of Feud: Capote vs. The Swans
In depth The writer's fall from grace with his high-flying socialite friends in 1960s Manhattan is captured in a new Disney+ series
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
Arid Gulf states hit with year's worth of rain
Speed Read The historic flooding in Dubai is tied to climate change
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How the EU undermines its climate goals with animal farming subsidies
Under the radar Bloc's agricultural policy incentivises carbon-intensive animal farming over growing crops, despite aims to be carbon-neutral
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
EPA limits carcinogenic emissions at 218 US plants
Speed Read The new rule aims to reduce cancer-causing air pollution in areas like Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Strong Taiwan earthquake kills 9, injures hundreds
Speed Read At magnitude 7.4, this was Taiwan's biggest earthquake in 25 years
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
EPA sets auto pollution rule that boosts EVs
Speed Read The Biden administration's new rules will push US automakers toward electric vehicles and hybrids
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Chimpanzees are dying of human diseases
Under the radar Great apes are vulnerable to human pathogens thanks to genetic similarity, increased contact and no immunity
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Can the world really wean itself off coal?
Today's Big Question 'Record' global consumption is set to fall soon but growing demand in China and India could increase tensions
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The microplastics hurricanes blowing across North America
Under the Radar New research confirms global pervasiveness of harmful microplastic pollution
By The Week Staff Published