Home Real ants in my PC? — the answer is yes

Real ants in my PC? — the answer is yes

Can real ants be in my PC — the answer is yes. Every PC gamer will occasionally encounter a problem or two — even a bug or two — but how many people come across a literal bug?  Many people have likely dealt with ants somewhere — in the house or out in the yard, but the tiny creatures taking over our computers are a little daunting.

Yes, ant infestations in PCs have been reported by a few gamers, and that’s bad, but “fire ants” invading PCs sounds like a good gaming title but not an excellent real-life scenario. Apparently, these little critters (is an ant a critter?) are causing temperatures to rise and damaging thermal paste and pads.

Some have attributed these venomous and irritating fire ants to climate change. These invasive species’ worker ants are pretty little, and like other ants, they seem drawn to electromagnetic fields. Therefore, a heated, buzzing PC with all its crevices and powered components could be an alluring target for exploration or even colonization.

 

My CPU/GPU got infested by ants when I was gone for a month. I played games and ran benchmarks so they would come out cos of heat. Also left my pc running overnight but they still inside. Help
byu/lazylollipop inpcmasterrace

It goes without saying that you won’t want an ant colony to take up residence in your expensive graphics card if you paid a lot of money for the best one available for your budget.  The Reddit user Thejus_Parol said, “I had to use a hair dryer to blow them out of there,” said the post, and it’s not easy to get rid of these ants once they find a home they like either.” Parol used isopropyl alcohol and anti-bug spray on the table, but said, “another set of ants appeared in the exact same place, doing the exact same thing — eating my GPU alive.”

An extensive search on the internet indicates that ants have infiltrated PCs and Macs many times before. There have been earlier reports of similar suspicions with ants consuming paste or heat pads and there are numerous examples on the internet — and you don’t have to search very far.

Featured Image Credit: Photo by Egor Kamelev; Pexels

About ReadWrite’s Editorial Process

The ReadWrite Editorial policy involves closely monitoring the tech industry for major developments, new product launches, AI breakthroughs, video game releases and other newsworthy events. Editors assign relevant stories to staff writers or freelance contributors with expertise in each particular topic area. Before publication, articles go through a rigorous round of editing for accuracy, clarity, and to ensure adherence to ReadWrite's style guidelines.

Deanna was an editor at ReadWrite until early 2024. Previously she worked as the Editor in Chief for Startup Grind, Editor in Chief for Calendar, editor at Entrepreneur media, and has over 20+ years of experience in content management and content development.

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