Invasion of the "Crazy Ants" in Louisiana

PLAQUEMINES PARISH, La. (WGNO) — You've heard of fire ants, but have you heard of crazy ants? They are swarming in Louisiana, especially in Plaquemines Parish.

Ecologists say they can be worse than fire ants.

These ants are known as crazy ants and they're marching in with their crazy antics.

"They are truly crazy, when people look down at the ground, they don't make trails. They are milling around all over the ground," Dr. Linda Bui, Professor of Environmental Sciences at LSU said.

She went on to say, "They are moving in a crazy manner, and it doesn't look organized. They know what they're doing, and they're organized.

One of the things that makes them so crazy is how they move around.

"They'll come in and bring soil on top of the pesticides so they can walk over it," she said.

Bui said these ants are house pests who eat anything they can, although they aren't known to bite and sting humans like fire ants.

The crazy ants have been found in 19 parishes around Louisiana, most recently in Plaquemines Parish, something which concerns her.

"They'll potentially move into people's boats and then they will further move into the marsh and cause habitat destruction. They decimate beehives, kill the bees, they'll also eat lizards, spiders, and decimate a lot of wildlife," Bui said.

And another thing that sounds crazy.

"I will tell you that people who have these crazy ants usually say they want their fire ants back," she said.

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