I have seen this video from BBC "Fire Ants and Techno-Chaos" which states that fire ants (mainly Solenopsis invicta) will attack electric equipments in the US, causing considerable damage and havoc. I have been working with fire ants for almost 10 years, but never in the US. I have made many observations in the field in South America (French Guyana, Uruguay, Brazil), and I have never seen them attacking electric installations there in their native range. On the other hand, I have observed some species of Camponotus, such as C. rufipes, making satellite nests in power boxes in gardens however I am not sure if they were really attracted by the electricity (dead power boxes also got colonised). My aunt lives in a heavily saevissima-infested region in Rio de Janeiro, and never had one equipment colonised by fire ants.
Thus I would like to ask US residents if, from their personal experience, they feel fire ants will enter equipments any more often than other local ants?
http://www.extension.org/pages/30057/ants-and-electrical-equipment#.VC1TbfldXpI
crazy ants tend to attack electrical equipment 'more often' although I am not sure if it is documented.
Eduardo: It is common in the US. In College Station Texas (about 30 years ago) we did a lot of work on this and they attack nearly every box that controls traffic signals. These boxes have a relay switch that the ants enter and fill the switch so full of ants the contacts can't close and the traffic light fails to operate. We fixed the problem by sealing the switch so the ants couldn't enter it. This is an area with high infestation rates, much higher than I have seen in Mato Grosso do Sul and surrounding areas (several hundred nests/ha). They also invade modems and other electrical equipment. A nest of Solenopsis bicolor invaded my laptop in Colombia and ruined it. All of the ants (several subfamilies and genera) we tested were attracted to electrical fields. I can send you reprints if you are interested.
Bill
Dear David, many thanks for the link: it is really informative. I am forwarding it to some friends from Brazil who are also curious on this topic.
Dear Mackay, this is really interesting information. I will contact you via email for the reprint/pdf of your research on this topic. I am curious of why this does not seem to be common in Brazil, while being an issue in the US. I must however add that I have never been to Mato Grosso do Sul, and most of my observations are with S. saevissima, which is more common around Southeast South America. As mentioned, I did see some ants invading power boxes in gardens, but never fire ants. Actually fire ants would seldom enter houses, even in infested (=several apparent nests in every house garden and whereabouts) areas, even in French Guyana. Maybe this difference is because of abiotic factors, such as temperature?
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