Scientists using Decapitating Flies to Combat Pesky Red Fire Ants

By Barry Murray
Spokesperson, Truly Nolen of America

Red fire ants’ days are numbered in the United States, thanks to effective commercial pest control methods and a USDA program introducing natural enemies into the red fire ants’ world, including right here in Dona Ana County.

In addition to Las Cruces, where red fire ants have been found for many years, the government has already started deploying these natural enemies in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Texas and Tennessee.

“This program could wind up saving the United States about $4 billion a year,” said Dr. Philip G. Koehler, a renowned University of Florida entomologist who spearheaded portions of the USDA research.

For more than 70 years, red fire ants have spread throughout the southern United States, stinging and irritating millions of Americans with impunity and causing nearly $6 billion in damage annually to crops, livestock, electronics and residential populations in 12 states and Puerto Rico. And their stings can even lead to death in humans from anaphylactic shock.

Conventional pest control methods destroy fire ant colonies — an effective, yet reactive solution. Accidentally imported from Brazil in 1931, red fire ants have had no natural enemies in the United States. Until now.

Meet the phorid fly, also known as the “decapitating fly.” You’ve heard of the Terminator, now meet the Decapitator.

“The adult decapitating phorid fly actually lays an egg in the thorax of the red fire ant,” Koehler said. “When the egg hatches, the larvae eats out the head of the ant until it literally falls off. Nothing else has the inside of a head like a red fire ant so the flies don’t attack anything else.”

Koehler, author of “Pests In and Around the Florida Home,” said one fly has the potential to kill 200 to 300 red fire ants.

In addition, scientists are also using biological warfare against the red fire ant. They are releasing Thelohania Solenopsae, a highly contagious and virulent red fire ant disease, which infects the ovaries of the queen, resulting in 90 percent fewer eggs. This begins a chain reaction where the lack of eggs leads to fewer worker ants and when the mound is taken over by another colony, those ants contract the disease.

Scientists are also raising red fire ants in laboratories and releasing diseased larvae on red fire ant mounds, said Koehler.

To be certain the flies and the disease would not attack any other organisms, Koehler said the USDA carefully conducted nearly a decade of research.

“We brought in the pest, but didn’t bring in any natural enemies,” Koehler said. “Combined with commercial pest control methods, these enemies will significantly impact red fire ant colonies over a period of time. “

Koehler said the red fire ant population in Brazil – the red fire ant’s home – is 80 percent smaller than in the United States – in large part due to the balance created by its natural enemies.

The flies and disease are long-term solutions and are not a substitute for conventional pest control methods, Koehler said.

Our industry sees these new weapons as complements in the campaign to eliminate red fire ants. There can be millions of red fire ants per acre and the decapitating flies and the red fire ant disease make our methods even more effective. Truly Nolen treats the red fire ant mounds with our special baits and also treat the area around the perimeter to contain the population. In a relatively short time, we achieve a 100 percent success rate in destroying the red fire ant population in a particular area.

Based on these advances, red fire ants’ days are numbered in the United States. And that’s good news to anybody who has ever been stung by one or more of these nasty little critters.

As national spokesperson for Truly Nolen of America, Barry “The Bug Guy” Murray has over 20years of experience in the pest control industry. Barry brings an informative as well as unique and entertaining perspective to consumers’ pest problems in the 21st Century. Founded in 1938, Tucson, Arizona-based Truly Nolen of America is one of the largest family owned pest control companies in the United States. Truly Nolen has 69 branch offices in Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Utah. The company also has independently owned and operated franchises in an ever-growing number of territories including California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Utah as well as Puerto Rico. For more information or to Ask the Expert a question about insects and insect prevention, please visit www.trulynolen.com.