[Science and the world of tomorrow] Mutated African siafu (army ants) on the loose in a metropolitan area, what ruckus would they create?
Say, some entomologist (be he or she a hired gun of some company or not) was doing test to see if siafu could be somehow utilized as an organic pest control. Through genetic manipulation create a mutated line of siafu that was as large ‘D’ cell batteries and hardy enough to withstand temps as low as 52 deg. Fahrenheit. If some got loose into the wild (as these things sometimes happen) and started mating and among themselves and crossbreeding with regular ants and fire ants, creating huge colonies of fierce attacking ants, how would that effect a metropolitan area? Would it be incumbent to the size of the metropolitan area or proximally to open spaces or large parks? What if it were simply an urban area in or near the hills or woods? Once the genie was out of the bottle, so to speak, would there be any remedy for them, or would man just have to deal with them as Africanized killer bees?
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We’d just have to deal with them. Fire ants have replaced most ant species where I live.
It’s sad because I like those little sugar ants. But they didn’t stand a chance. I don’t hate very many animals, but fire ants suck.
I suppose I would be making bank selling household pest control flame throwers.
They would mutate into a version that could burrow and/or lay eggs inside humans, and control them from the inside. Then they would rule the world and stop our industrial destruction of the environment, and we’d all live happily ever after.
1. Evacuate people
2. Get the army
3. Flame their asses before they lay eggs.
4. Your link leads to Fluther main page.
So they die in a chilly afternoon?
Start hitting them with fire extinguishers, continue until winter. Bob’s your uncle.
@Sneki95 1. Evacuate people
The only practicality of that is to get them out of the path of their travel if you know which way they are traveling. Trying to evacuate 10s of thousands of people might not work, hasn’t for hurricanes and they have days in advance for those.
2. Get the army
If one were able to locate the genesis colony and get them before they got established, maybe, but if like the fire ants and killer bees, once they get a foothold, they can be quite evasive, and certainly produce quicker than you can wipe them out. “It’s like killing roaches – you have to kill ‘em all, otherwise what’s the use?”Paul Kersey: Deathwish 3
3. Flame their asses before they lay eggs.
<refer to Paul Kersey answer above>
4. Your link leads to Fluther main page.
Well. Isn’t that interesting……
@Seek So they die in a chilly afternoon?
Maybe if they can be kept from taking up residence in someone’s attic, basement, the subway, or walls of some structure or business. Otherwise. (if one is squarely in the science corner). If they tale on traits of other ants as well as their own…well….
Siafu at work.
Don’t know but it would make a crap b-movie I’d love to watch.
We would all have to pray for gods to fix the problem.
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