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Argentine ants are tough little buggers. They do not bite and hurt people like fire ants, but are happy to whup on cockroaches, termites and other ants. The problem with using ants as biocontrols: unchecked ant reproduction.
If the queen were irradiated she could not reproduce, but the colony
would remain stable. I propose that Argenitine ant colonies be grown in boxes for use as biocontrols. Before transplanting to the house or yard, the queen would receive a sublethal, sterilizing shot of radiation. The workers will never know the difference. The ants will do their work and then die off. This would also require that consumers with a more persistent / recurring pest problem would need to buy more ant colonies as their old ones wore out.
New Mexico ants.
http://www.tvguide....wMovie.asp?MI=23356
"...they learn that secret atomic testing in the area has spawned a colony of 20-foot-long ants. Realizing that if the queen is able to mate, the world may be overrun by the giant creatures, Whitmore and company hurriedly work to locate the nest and destroy it." [FarmerJohn, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]
Radiation + Dove + Queen Mum =
http://www.btintern...n_mum_dove_flag.gif
Bat in a hat [thumbwax, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004]
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Annotation:
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I'll start stocking up on ammo to fight off the resulting hoarde of giant mutant radioactive ants. |
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What about the (non-sterile) ant colonies that are growing in the wild?. Do we serve them with papers to get the queen to trudge up to your sterilizing box? |
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Oh. I though that this was some 'death to the Royal Family' rant. |
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[Gnome] - we grab new young queens flying around, give them happy new homes in the lab to start their families, plenty of grubs and crumbs for food, then _zzzzap_ and its off to the termite infested basement. |
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[bungston]: By 'we' you mean...? |
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Me and "antwrangler" [Gnomethang], here. He was the one who proposed serving them with papers, no doubt to get out of the down and dirty work. Still a little wary after his mishap on the earwig ranch, I guess. |
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// The workers will never know the difference. // |
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Won't they get suspicious after a few seasons? "Um, Queen... hello, eggs? Remember those?" |
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Actually [bungston], I am an 'Ant Whisperer'.
I reckon though that between us we may catch ohhhh, lemmeseee, 1.2% of the new young queen (ants!) flying around.
Next project is the new young queen (ants!) sucker-upper.
p.s. I told you *NEVER* to mention that thing with the earwigs. |
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// "Um, Queen... hello, eggs? Remember those?"// |
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"WORKER! WHERE ARE MY LARVAE?" |
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"Ahh, your majesty, I'm sorry. They have not hatched." |
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"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WRONG? ARE YOU NOT CLEANING THE EGGS PROPERLY? ARE YOU BITING THEM?" |
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"Your majesty, please accept my humble... |
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bungston, that annotation has let me forgive you for your ludicrous point of view re the homeless. |
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