Maybe Tom DeLay could do something useful for a change and go back to his first career:
Scientists do not quite know what to call them, they are so new. But folks in the damp coastal belt south of Houston have their own names (some of them printable) for the little invaders now seemingly everywhere: on the move underfoot; infesting woodlands, yards and gardens; nesting in electrical boxes and causing shorts; and even raising anxiety at Hobby Airport and the Johnson Space Center.
"We call them running ants," said Diane Yeo, a homeowner in suburban Pearland, turning over a planter by her swimming pool to reveal a seething carpet of ants, yes, running, each about the size of the letter "i" on this page.
That was not the worst of it. "Looks like they’re carrying eggs," said her husband, Bob.
The ant is a previously unknown variety with a staggering propensity to reproduce and no known enemies. The species, which bites but does not sting, was first identified here in 2002 by a Pearland exterminator, Tom Rasberry, who quickly lent his name to the find: the crazy rasberry ant.
"I sprayed some pesticide just to knock them down," Mr. Rasberry recalled on Thursday. "But the next year I went from seeing a couple thousand to millions of them."
More info here, with a downoaded Google maps pic showing distribution at present.
No word on whether or not they'd lie to get us into a war and eavesdrop on our electronic communications without a warrant. But if they'd pledge not to, I'd vote for them over George W. Bush.
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