HOUSTON, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Floating colonies of fire ants are posing another threat to Houston residents who are still reeling from the catastrophic flooding left behind by Hurricane Harvey.
These venomous ants have water-repellant waxy bodies, and they link together to form a mass that may contain as many as 100,000 as they look for a dry place to survive the floods and rebuild their home.
Entomologists said such behavior of fire ants is totally normal, but an unwanted encounter with these tiny creatures may lead to life-threatening allergic reactions depending on the severity of stings.
Most people just feel a burning sensation and are left with a red patch of skin, but an allergic reaction can trigger anaphylactic shock, which can include welts and trouble breathing, entomologists warned.
Experts strongly advised people not to disturb or mess with these fire ants.
Once the first few ants sting, they would emit a kind of substance called "pheromone" to inform other ants to follow suit, experts said, noting that the best thing to do is to rub them off as quickly as possible.
"They don't come to attack you. They're just passively floating along. It's a matter of being just intelligent and evasive," Larry Gilbert, a professor of integrated biology at the University of Texas at Austin, told technology news website The Verge.
If it's impossible to avoid the path of fire ants, entomologist Molly Keck suggested creating waves to move them a few inches away.
Experts noted that the rusty color of fire ants make it easy for people to spot and take precautions.
There have been no public reports of flood victims suffering fire ant attacks as of midday Tuesday, according to NBC News.
