from unpublished book by Marguerita- "What is it going to be,eh?"
“It’s a very fecund species, with multiple queens,” Mr. Meyers said.
The ants often eat fire ants, with which they are sometimes compared, and they “outcompete” fire ants for the food supply and reproduce far faster, Mr. Meyers said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/16/us/16ants.html
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/15/a-plague-of-ants-in-houston/
This ant has yet to be identified to species due to confusion regarding the taxonomy of the genus. Therefore, this ant is referred to as Paratrechina sp. nr. pubens. Research concerning the morphology and phylogenetics (Jason Meyers, Ph.D. student), for identification purposes, is ongoing. Although, there is no properly accepted common name (via the Code of Zoological Nomenclature nor the Entomological Society of America) there are a couple of common names often used for this species. The common name used most often is the Caribbean crazy ant (for
Paratrechina pubens). However, here in Texas, more specifically in the Houston area, the common name often referenced is the crazy rasberry ant (for
Paratrechina sp. nr.
pubens).
http://urbanentomology.tamu.edu/ants/exotic_tx.cfm
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