Afarensis is a 3.5-2.8 million year old hominin from the Kada Hadar member of the Hadar formation in the Middle Awash, Ethiopia. He is approximately 41 inches tall, weighs approximately 60 pounds and has a cranial capacity of a whopping 410 cc (approximately). Afarensis is currently considered to be transitional between apes and humans and displays some traits of both. Since he spends a lot of time on the couch watching monster movies, some observers question whether he is an obligate biped (although no one has observed him climbing a tree). He also has a blog called 
A story on Science News Daily is cause for alarm, hysterical panic, and other paranoia:
The hairy, reddish-brown creatures are known as "crazy rasberry ants" - crazy, because they wander erratically instead of marching in regimented lines, and "rasberry" after Tom Rasberry, an exterminator who did battle against them early on.
Why is this cause for running in circles hollering "the sky is falling?" Well:
Worse, they, like some other species of ants, are attracted to electrical equipment, for reasons that are not well understood by scientists.They have ruined pumps at sewage pumping stations, fouled computers and at least one homeowner's gas meter, and caused fire alarms to malfunction. They have been spotted at NASA's Johnson Space Center and close to Hobby Airport, though they haven't caused any major problems there yet.
Exterminators say calls from frustrated homeowners and businesses are increasing because the ants - which are starting to emerge by the billions with the onset of the warm, humid season - appear to be resistant to over-the-counter ant killers.
"The population built up so high that typical ant controls simply did no good," said Jason Meyers, an A&M doctoral student who is writing his dissertation on the one-eighth-inch-long ant.
It's not enough just to kill the queen. Experts say each colony has multiple queens that have to be taken out.
They also are obstinately refusing to fall for our tricks:
At the same time, the ants aren't taking the bait usually left out in traps, according to exterminators, who want the Environmental Protection Agency to loosen restrictions on the use of more powerful pesticides.And when you do kill these ants, the survivors turn it to their advantage: They pile up the dead, sometimes using them as a bridge to cross safely over surfaces treated with pesticide.
It's like something out of Phase IV
Comments
Oh, don't worry about these. I'm sure they have a natural predator, probably birds that travel in huge flocks.
I'd bet on the passenger pigeon. They'll save us.
Oh, wait ....
Posted by: Hank Roberts | May 15, 2008 5:02 AM
Hank,that has to be the best comment ever.........
Posted by: karen | May 15, 2008 8:36 AM
Send Bush after them. He's perfectly suited for fighting useless wars, and he's not gonna have his current job much longer. How many days before the Mission Accomplished banner goes up?
Posted by: J-Dog | May 15, 2008 8:57 AM
Umm, J-Dog, we want the ants to grow weaker not stronger...
Posted by: afarensis | May 15, 2008 11:48 AM
Posted by: Reed | May 15, 2008 7:31 PM
Ants hate cinnamon powder. Sprinkle it across your doorsills, around your floor edges, and in your electrical boxes. That should keep them out.
And if you actually want to kill them, maybe a little borax powder instead of pest sprays.... it works wonders on cockroaches, cutting slices in their cuticles so they dry out and die.
Posted by: Monado | May 17, 2008 10:32 PM
Yes, and when our ant overlords arrive, I plan on sending them your way :)
Posted by: afarensis, FCD | May 17, 2008 11:23 PM