Ant-maps > Weather > Hurricane Ike’s effect on the crazy rasberry ants

Today Houston is hit hard by hurricane Ike. In the Netherlands we cannot imagine the speed of the storm. But we understand the risc of living behind see walls and levees. My thoughts are with those ten thousands of people who stay foot.

In an earlier blog item I wrote about the spread of crazy rasberry ants in Houston. The ants are distributed in the suburbes near streams and rivers. Exactly the places that are flooding right now. I realy wonder if these ants are effected by the storm.

The effect from flooding on invasive ants is not new. After Hurricane Katrina the fire ants New Orleans disapeared in the flooded area’s. Fire ants can survive floodings for sevral days. By forming a rotating ball on the water surface they could stand days before the ball falls appart. Crazy Rasberry ants that live in electronic divises could drown or be toasted.

There is even a small possibillity that these ants swim. There is one species of ants known that can swim, even submerge. These ants called Polyrhachis sokolova live in the mangroves of Australia. These ants live under trees who are flooded by tides. So, do we see millions of crazy running ants comming days? Or do they flee into the electronics on roofs and office buildings…

Who knows. But this is deffenately something I’ll try to find out comming weeks.