During my second year of college some years ago (OK -- MANY years ago,) four friends and I traveled to Ft. Lauderdale to experience the proverbial Spring Break. It was a relatively tame week of good, clean fun, except for a terrible run-in with some nasty critters.
Heading out for a night of clubbing, our mini-skirt-attired group hopped into my friend's red Pontiac Firebird -- a very hot car in those days, by the way. As I settled into the front passenger seat, I rested my hands on my (bare) legs. "This is odd," I remember thinking. "Why are there crumbs all over my legs?"
Since it was nighttime, I couldn't see what I was doing, but as I brushed them off onto the floor I felt a pinching sensation. After a few minutes of this, I asked my friend to turn on the light. To my horror, both my legs were covered with hundreds of tiny fire ants.
After a shower and a trip to the store for a fumigating "bug bomb" for the car, we were free of the plague. But the red puss-filled blisters persisted for about a month.
While we're fortunate that fire ants aren't indigenous to Long Island, there are plenty of native insects that plague us and especially our plants. Whether you need help determining if your visitor is harmful or beneficial, or you just want to be grossed out, check out What's That Bug? -- a site that's as fun as it is informative.
