[csvset]

Pest management specialist Scott Ludwig recently released a new fire ant-killing fly into the wild at the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Overton, in East Texas. The flies lay eggs inside the fire ants which grow in the head of the's actions before killing them.

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

“Now this is what environmentalists should be spending their time on. Finding forms of nature that destroy other forms of nature that are inconvienent to man.”

—Hank Hill

[mylife]

[blam]

I heard about this program years ago and have been waiting for a progress report. This is the same report I saw years ago!!

Hasn't any progress been made?

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

Scott Ludwig even looks like Dale Gribble. Good grief!

[cripplecreek]

Don't know what kind of ants these are but I found several big mounds just swarming with them in the Michigan woods the other day.

[a fool in paradise]

Great, now we’ll have weird fly problems.

And didn’t Hank Hill try this on King of the Hill (Dale thwarted the effort because he works as an exterminator)

[BufordP]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UThaL-D6U8

[freedumb2003]

A fly lays an egg inside an unsuspecting victim walking in the woods on a sunny day. Soon the egg matures and moves into the head of its prey, taking bodily control before turning the prey into a living zombie. Before the victim knows what's happening, its head pops off and a new fly emerges, off to find another host.

The democratic party strategy exposed at last.

[mark3681]

O.K. This can’t get out of control!
So, what happens when the food source for the flies is eliminated?
Sounds like something we’ll be reading about, oh, say 10 years or so from now.
Imagine sitting there on your back patio, enjoying a hot dog fresh off the grill. Your kids are playing on the swing set. Your cute little doggie wonders over, wagging his cute little tail, and, POW!!!, his head explodes and a giant fly comes out.

[mkmensinger]

Great, goa’ld flies.

[zlala]

Wow...more surprising than the research is the fact that Texas A & M and UT are working together. Wonders will never cease! ;-) jk

[csvset]

University of Texas at Austin
Fire Ant Project
UT - What starts here changes the world

Texas Imported Fire Ant Research and Management Plan

[GOPJ]

Interesting post. Thanks.

[Vinnie]

How many flies would it take to kill one fire ant nest? Thousands?

I see another man made unintended consequence on the horizon.

[rintense]

I saw this on the discovery channel a few years ago. They actually had HD video of a zombie ant's head popping off. Nature always finds a way. That said, I am never a fan of introducing a non-indigenous species to control the indigenous. Ecosystems work for a reason. When scientists artificially try to create one, bad things happen. Who knows what affects this will have.

And yes, I know all about fire ants. I grew up in Texas. I'd follow my brothers out into the fields as they put M-80s down the ant hills.

[RandallFlagg]

Anyone ever seen the movie, “Mimic?”

[JoeProBono]

[snarks_when_bored]

Last year I put one bare knee down in the front yard while doing a bit of yardwork. Within about 10 seconds, my knee and upper thigh were covered with fire ants. Before I was able to brush them all off, I had received 53 individual bites. Two months later, each bite was still visible.

Them's evil little critters...

[BigBlueJon]

Doesn’t anyone realize that this is how the Zombie Apocalypse starts??? It’s only a matter of time before the flies mutate because their taste for fire ants can’t be quenched and they start moving up the food chain. Humans will soon be infected by Fire Ant Fly Hybrids and the zombies will rise.

The only fortunate thing right now is that the heads pop off the ants and the fly moves on. Until it mutates, zombie heads will be exploding all over the place and everybody knows you have to kill zombies by making them headless.

I probably should have had coffee first before responding to this post.