This article is amazing and if you live in an area where fire ants are a problem like East TX you may get a kick out of this. Zombie fire ants wander in Texas — until heads fall off t sounds like something out of science fiction: zombie fire ants. But it's all too real. Fire ants wander aimlessly away from the mound. Eventually their heads fall off, and they die. The strange part is that researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M’s AgriLife Extension Service say making "zombies" out of fire ants is a good thing. "It's a tool – they're not going to completely wipe out the fire ant, but it's a way to control their population," said Scott Ludwig, an integrated pest management specialist with the AgriLife Extension Service in Overton, in East Texas. The tool is the tiny phorid fly, native to a region of South America where the fire ants in Texas originated. Researchers have learned that there are as many as 23 phorid species along with pathogens that attack fire ants to keep their population and movements under control. So far, four phorid species have been introduced in Texas. The flies "dive-bomb" the fire ants and lay eggs. The maggot that hatches inside the ant eats away at the brain, and the ant starts exhibiting what some might say is zombie-like behavior. "At some point, the ant gets up and starts wandering," said Rob Plowes, a research associate at UT. The maggot eventually migrates into the ant's head, but Plowes said he "wouldn't use the word 'control' to describe what is happening. There is no brain left in the ant, and the ant just starts wandering aimlessly. This wandering stage goes on for about two weeks." About a month after the egg is laid, the ant's head falls off and the fly emerges ready to attack any foraging ants away from the mound and lay eggs.
that is really cool. I think about ants all the time. Ants and Bees. I find the whole ONE QUEEN thing fascinating... and the workers just work, like robots... all kinda weird.
I remember that they were studying those flies back when I was in school - but at that time, they hadn't completed research on what other effects of bringing yet another exotic species into this area would have. Looks like either they finished the research, or someone just said 'fuck it' and brought 'em over anyway. I wonder if they'll be attacking any of our native species? Hopefully our Red Ants have a thick enough exoskeleton and aren't as inviting of a target to these things, as those harvester ants themselves are already dealing with eradication. No need to introduce another predator to the species, as mankind has already done enough in limiting their territory (as well as it's more well-known, and protected predator, the Horned Lizard (AKA: Horny Toad.))
when I was like 17 I had a cat slowly start acting strange, then she started sneezing. I took her to the vet, they put her on antibiotics. She never stop sneezing... she then turned retarded, would get act lost, stopped eating. Took her to another vet, she got worse, tried another vet since now she was just a living slab of meat... he gave some strange diagnosis... and sedated her to put her to sleep... right then half way sedated, she sneezed out a strange maggot. The vet had never seen it before. Said he would send it off... but they never called me to tell me what the hell it was. I wonder if it was something similar... it was not a typical Wolf worm, we did those out of cats/dogs all the time.
Are fie ants a southern thing? I remember one time I parked under a tree one night to have sex with my boyfriend (back when I still lived with the 'rents) and I started getting biten by ants. Would those have been fire ants? And no... not pubic lice before someone decides to mention it.
I had a Shitzu that seemed to go nuts there towards the end he would stare at a wall and bark little things like that made me think he must be going senile. Finally he just went off one night and never returned. Now I wonder if it could have been some brain eating parasite.
When you get bit by a fire ant it feels like someone putting a cigarette out on your skin. The burn last a while then a blister forms. I bet there is a youtube showing fire ant bites.
Oh and the Southern question yeah I don't think they are that far North they originated from South America they were all over the place when I lived in Houston but I rarely see them here in Dallas.
Here is the deal you could be standing in a yard and your leg is getting covered with fire ants but they don't bite. Then its like they send a signal to each other and start biting at the same time.
Fucking pictures will not post from Wikipedia! And I cannot edit my posts. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FireAntBite.jpg Her is a good example. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUnnhYT3gLA
Who the fuck was holding the camera on the 'bot fly' video? Shit. We spent more time looking at the back of someone's neck and got some compelling footage of the duct tape on the box, too... The fire ants are an invasive exotic species - most likely introduced by ships carrying cargo. They've spread much in the same manner as the Africanized bees, displacing native species. They don't seem to tolerate cold as well as our own ants, and part of that may have to do with the mounds they build, placing them above ground, and subject to freezing. The ants I'm concerned about are the "Raspberry Crazy Ants" - First identified in 2002, & currently in the Houston area, they seem to have more of a knack for being attracted to electrical fields than other ants, and are immune to typical pesticides.
A co-worker of mine thinks he has crazy ants I never heard of them. I have those damn pharaoh ants they look similar to fire ants but are darker and stink when you mash them with your finger. A sweet smell kinda like rotten bananas.
why in the hell did they throw her back in the ant hill for a reenactment. WTF I also wonder who lets their kid be in the old OFF commercials.. you know where one kids hand is sprayed with OFF one is not.. and they both put their hands in mosquito boxes. I hate ants... I have seen an 8 weeks old puppy killed by them. The were rushing it to us. But it died 2 minutes before they to us. Here in GA we have a bad ant problem. We get calls all the time for pets attacked... I just tell them to give it Benadryl ASAP. Most of the time that does the trick.. few others gave the Benadryl and came to us...for additional treatment. If you have a dog- please always keep Benadryl. You never know when it will get attacked, or eat a Bee... ONE mg per Pound. FYI ... it is also great for knocking them out / making them sleepy if you have a bunch guest coming over.
