Latest news with #BrackenridgeFieldLab
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Texans shaken as thousands of fire ants seen forming rafts on river using their bodies
This army is in formation. Thousands of fire ants have been spotted floating on floodwaters through the Texas city and forming rafts using their bodies with residents now reporting the gross behavior. KXAN Austin took to X to post a video taken by Austinite David Todd of the little critters, seen nestled into a large cluster in the waters of Lake Travis. X users weighed in on the scary sight. 'A floating ball of pure hate,' one observed. 'I've done more than seen them. I've run into them at night wading out to the ramp on my dock when the lake is rapidly rising,' another wrote. 'Sucks.' 'Bring out the torch,' someone else suggested. The pesky bugs, which can cause painful stings, are rife in Texas. But when their underground nests flood, they sink their teeth into each other, interlock their limbs and create rafts to stay alive. 'It's called a self-organizing or self-assembling process. And it's something only social insects do,' Ed LeBrun, a research scientist at the University of Texas' Brackenridge Field Lab, told the outlet. 'There are a lot of other structures that ants make in a similar way. For example, army ants will make bridges across rivers.' Solve the daily Crossword
New York Post
2 days ago
- Science
- New York Post
Texans shaken as thousands of fire ants seen forming rafts on river using their bodies
This army is in formation. Thousands of fire ants have been spotted floating on floodwaters through the Texas city and forming rafts using their bodies with residents now reporting the gross behavior. KXAN Austin took to X to post a video taken by Austinite David Todd of the little critters, seen nestled into a large cluster in the waters of Lake Travis. Advertisement X users weighed in on the scary sight. 'A floating ball of pure hate,' one observed. Advertisement 'I've done more than seen them. I've run into them at night wading out to the ramp on my dock when the lake is rapidly rising,' another wrote. 'Sucks.' 'Bring out the torch,' someone else suggested. Fire ants are forming rafts out of their own bodies in Texas floodwaters. KXAN The pesky bugs, which can cause painful stings, are rife in Texas. But when their underground nests flood, they sink their teeth into each other, interlock their limbs and create rafts to stay alive. Advertisement 'It's called a self-organizing or self-assembling process. And it's something only social insects do,' Ed LeBrun, a research scientist at the University of Texas' Brackenridge Field Lab, told the outlet. 'There are a lot of other structures that ants make in a similar way. For example, army ants will make bridges across rivers.'
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
A massive raft of fire ants found on Lake Travis
AUSTIN (KXAN) — It might sound unbelievable, but viewers are sending in videos of fire ants floating on floodwaters, forming living rafts out of their own bodies. On Wednesday morning, a man shared video of one such raft drifting on Lake Travis. When their underground nests flood, fire ants link their legs and jaws together to create buoyant, self-assembled mounds. These floating colonies can contain thousands of ants — and they can still bite or sting if disturbed. These fire ant colonies can contain thousands of worker ants, and can still bite or sting those who interfere with the floating colony. Fire ants are widespread in Texas, and researchers at Texas A&M University are studying how they respond to flooding. The insects bite one another and interlock their limbs, forming tightly packed rafts that don't sink. Their waxy skin helps repel water and keep the group afloat. 'It's called a self-organizing or self-assembling process. And it's something only social insects do,' LeBrun said. A research scientist at the University of Texas' Brackenridge Field Lab in central Austin, LeBrun has researched ants for three decades. 'There are a lot of other structures that ants make in a similar way. For example, army ants will make bridges across rivers,' LeBrun said, but still, this raft is rare. Fire ants he believes are the only ants that do this. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
