ants news stories on Newser

‘Monstrously Big’ Ants Once Roamed America

Rob Quinn — Wed, 04 May 2011 07:45:00 CDT

The fossil of an ant queen the size of a hummingbird has been found in lake sediments in Wyoming. The 2-inch-long ant is the biggest ever found in the US, and the newly identified species is one of the largest to have ever lived, reports LiveScience . Researchers say the "monstrously...

'Zombie Ants' Found in Brazil

Evann Gastaldo — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 14:14:05 CST

First, the fungus takes over the ant’s brain. Then, it uses “mind control” to force the ant to move to a new location—an ideal location where the fungus can grow and its spores can spread. Finally, the fungus kills the ant—and then grows out of its head. Sounds...

Crazy Ants Swarm Gulf Coast

Rob Quinn — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 05:15:14 CDT

Billions of "crazy ants" are munching their way through Gulf Coast counties in Florida and Texas, the Wall Street Journal reports. The tiny insects, believed to have originated in the Caribbean, happily make their homes in human dwellings and are tough to dislodge once they move in. The ants often...

Who Needs Males? Not Self-Cloning Tropical Ants

Kevin Spak — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 10:49:19 CDT

Are men really necessary? Not if you’re a Mycoceperus smithii ant. Researchers have discovered that the tropical ant species is comprised entirely of females, the BBC reports. A colony’s queen will clone itself, producing only daughters. Though such sex-free reproduction is common in the ant world, this is the first...

Crazy Ants Munch Through Houston

Rob Quinn — Thu, 15 May 2008 03:12:35 CDT

Houston, you have an ant problem. Billions of ravenous ants have invaded the city and are chomping their way through the city's electrical equipment, causing shorts and failure, AP reports. The previously unknown species—dubbed "crazy raspberry ants"—apparently arrived in Texas on a cargo ship. The invading army is...

Cheating, Corruption Rampant in Ant Society

Kevin Spak — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:00:00 CDT

A power-mad elite is secretly rigging the system so their offspring rise to power, LiveScience reports. That’s the situation a team of researchers has discovered in ant society—not exactly the epitome of community collaboration once thought. Until now, it appeared that any properly-fed larvae could hatch into a queen,...

Ant Farm Con Man Gets Death

J. Kelman — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 15:13:38 CDT

A pyramid scheme built on an ant farm earned a Chinese entrepreneur over $400 million—and a death sentence. The sentence meted out to Wang Zhendong by a Chinese court last month is part of a nationwide crackdown on fraud. Wang swindled thousands of people by misrepresenting his wares as...