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The ultimate PC bug: Texan ants that are eating PC hardware

It sounds like the plot of a low-budget horror film, but it is absolutely true. Texans have been invaded by a species of ant, which is devouring any electrical equipment standing in its way.

The tiny reddish-brown creatures are thought to have arrived in Texas aboard a cargo ship and are now running riot in the Houston area, shorting out electrical boxes and damaging computer hardware. The insects have been dubbed “crazy rasberry ants” – “crazy” because they move in an erratic way instead of marching in line, and “rasberry” after Tom Rasberry, a local exterminator who is leading the fight to eradicate them.

As the hot and humid summer weather approaches, their population is multiplying by the day and they are proving very resistant to traditional over-the-counter poisons. Even where these ant-killers have taken effect, the survivors use it to their advantage by piling up dead ants and using them as a bridge to cross areas treated with pesticide.

But most intriguing is their attraction to electrical equipment. They have ruined pumps at sewage stations, caused computers to malfunction and tripped fire alarm circuits. There have even been sightings at NASA's Johnson Space Centre although they are not yet believed to have caused any lasting damage there.

The only good news is that after feasting on iPods and PCs, these crazy rasberry ants still find room for a course of fire ants, their stinging red cousins who have traditionally been the pest of Texan summers. So whilst local residents may be losing chunks from their hard drives, they should be suffering fewer ant stings this year.