Floating colonies of fire ants roaming Houston waters after Harvey, may climb into boats

Victims of Hurricane Harvey's devastating flooding in Houston and Southeast Texas have a new threat to worry about: floating colonies of aggressive fire ants.

A CBS news correspondent tweeted out a picture of one floating island of ants and it quickly spread online.

Fire ants form a protective island as they float out the #Houston flood pic.twitter.com/UBORwAzA4R — Omar Villafranca (@OmarVillafranca) August 27, 2017

Unlike the fake photo of a shark on the freeway, this appears to be a real problem Houston-area residents will have to deal with in the coming days. The insects are known for the painful stings they inflict when they come in contact with skin.

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As the Houston Chronicle reported in 2015, the red fire ants, or Solenopsis invicta, evacuate their underground nests when the tunnels start to flood.

Fire ants clump together in flood water from Tropical Storm Harvey, Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017, in New Caney. Fire ants clump together in flood water from Tropical Storm Harvey, Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017, in New Caney. Photo: Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle Photo: Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 99 Caption Close Floating colonies of fire ants roaming Houston waters after Harvey, may climb into boats 1 / 99 Back to Gallery

"By the time water covers the mound and the tunnels are flooded, the ants have moved up and out of the nest, locking legs together and forming a floating mass of fire ants, called a raft," Dr. Robert Puckett, assistant professor and extension entomologist at Texas A&M University told the Chronicle.

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The colony of fire ants will float along until it finds something solid to stick to, which could be anything from a tree branch to the roof of someone's flooded house.

Experts at Texas A&M warn not to make contact with these floating ant colonies, not even with the oar of a boat because they may "climb aboard."

"Debris piles from the floodwaters or piles of items from flooded homes are potential nesting sites for fire ants," Puckett told the Chronicle. "Be aware that fire ants can be under anything."

That includes carpet, damaged hardwood floors, and furniture.

When floodwaters recede, people should still be careful when picking up debris, and wear bug repellent and protective gear, like long sleeves and rubber boots.