Put down the fly swatter for fire ant control

June 2, 2:31 PMCharlotte History ExaminerAnna Looper

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Looks and sounds like science fiction but it’s the truth and it could save your life.

Pseudacteon obtusus is a fly species that turns the pesky red fire ant in to a zombie. The Pseudacteon obtusus fly is infected with a parasite that takes over the fire ant and turns it in to a zombie.

The fly does not affect native beneficial ants, it is not attracted to feces, and you won’t see it unless you stand over a red ant mound.

The fly injects its egg in to the body of a red ant. The egg hatches and the maggot digest the ant’s brain. The maggot causes the ant to become a zombie by taking over the brain of the insect.

The zombie red ant marches 50 feet away from its nest, loses its head, and gives birth to a parasite.

If the infected ant were to stay close to the nest, the other ants would wise up to the situation and kill off the infected ant before the next generation of flies were released.

That is great news for those of us who are highly allergic to the sting of a fire ant. I am one of those people. Shortly after I’ve been bitten, the toxins start to burn my skin.

The itch is unbearable and makes you hate fire ants for the rest of your life. You vow to become fire ant enemy number one.

You’ll donate your kid’s college fund to eradicate them. You’ll build an alter worshipping the person who finds a way to wipe the fire ant off the face of the earth.

April 29^th, 2009 in east Texas Dr. Scott Ludwig from Texas AgriLife Extension Service released the parasite-infested fire ants. The wind will help to spread these infected flies up to 25 miles a year.

I’m hoping they will release more flies and speed the process. At the site, Texas Imported Fire Ant and Research Project, you can read more about the research being done by Texas A&M University. I applaud their aggressive efforts. The ants are marching north and will be in my neighborhood soon.

I visited a friend recently just two hours south of my location in North Carolina. I was out in her yard as she watered her plants. She startled me as she yelled for me to get out of the grass.

I jumped up on the sidewalk fearing a snake was slithering up my leg. It was a warning that she had fire ants in her yard. I suddenly had a sobering memory of my one and only fire ant sting about 10 years ago while living in South Carolina.

If you are allergic to them, one sting is all it takes for a lifetime full of fear. This news about a fly that can infect a colony is good news to me. Thank you Dr. Ludwig and Dr. Lawrence Gilbert. Dr. Gilbert, director of the Brackenridge Field Laboratory at the University of Texas, raised the infected ants.

How to recognize fire ants and their bite symptoms.

PDF on First Aid for fire ant sting

Thank You Texas A&M for this information on fire ant research.

Thank you for reading my articles. I put my articles in large print on purpose. 

I can be reached at my blog about gardening: Flowergardengirl