The South, long inured to red bugs, screwworms, rattlesnakes, alligators and other varmints, irritably recognized last week that it had a new pest on its hands: the fire ant.
Reddish and only ¼in. long, the fire ant has a peculiar talent: it chews a slit in the skin of its victim, lifts the skin with its mandibles, curves its abdomen under its body and injects a dose of fluid which causes fiery pain, raises angry welts, and may form a pocket of pus. Victims highly sensitive to ant poison may be hospitalized for weeks;...
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