Posted on 02/16/2014 10:44:36 AM PST by patriot08
where "URL" is the URL address you want to link to (and you gotta use the double quotes), and Link Description is whatever you want to call your link. For example:
<a HREF="http://www.drudgereport.com/">Link to Drudge</a>
becomes Link to Drudge
Ooooooh, we’re keeping watch on them, alright, and enjoying it immensely. :-)
I missed them today. Hubby said they were here this morning but they were gone by the time I woke up. A shame because it’s finally warm enough to be comfortable outside. I’m tired of shivering.
Something interesting:
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Crazy-ants-can-fight-off-fire-ants-new-study-5233643.php
Also:
Phorid flies, or Phoridae, are a large family of small, hump-backed flies somewhat smaller than vinegar flies; two species in this family (Pseudacteon tricuspis and Pseudacteon curvatus) are parasitoids of the red imported fire ant in its native range in South America. Some 110 species of the genus Pseudacteon, or ant-decapitating flies, have been described. Members of Pseudacteon reproduce by laying eggs in the thorax of the ant. The first instar larvae migrates to the head, then develops by feeding on the hemolymph, muscle tissue, and nervous tissue. After about two weeks, they cause the ant’s head to fall off by releasing an enzyme that dissolves the membrane attaching the ant’s head to its body. The fly pupates in the detached head capsule, emerging two weeks later.[13]
Pseudacteon flies appear to be important ecological constraints on Solenopsis species and they have been introduced throughout the southern United States, starting with Travis, Brazos, and Dallas counties in Texas, as well as Mobile, Alabama, where the ants first entered North America
U.S. scientists regularly release several species of phorid flies to control alien fire ants, which have spread across the southern U.S. during the past half century and outcompeted many native ant species.
Now scientists have released a new species of phorid, Pseudacteon obtusus (not pictured), for the first time in the U.S., Texas A&M University announced May 11.
Released in southern Texas in 2008 and eastern Texas in April 2009, P. obtusus is the first phorid released in the U.S. that is known to attack ants as they forage. In theory, feeding ants are more vulnerable to attack than those hunkering down in hidden nests.
The flies—which don’t have a taste for native U.S. ants—also drive the frightened fire ants into their nests, freeing up more food for the indigenous ants.
It’s about “leveling the playing field for native ants. We’re trying to restore the balance,” said Rob Plowes, a research associate at the University of Texas.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/05/photogalleries/zombie-ants/
.
And this:
http://texnews.com/1998/texas/fishkill0604.html
Glad you’re been keeping watch on them.
Speaking of this crazy weather, here on the coast of Texas
(sub tropical) one day we were at 34F during the night and it rose to 90F the next day. How’d you like to live in weather like that? Crazy.
Thanks, I’ll work on it. :)
I’ll check all that out later but I always remember what happened in places like Australia when a new species was brought in to fight a native species. It didn’t turn out for the best.
I’ll check all that out later but I always remember what happened in places like Australia when a new species was brought in to fight a native species. It didn’t turn out for the best_______________________________________________
Yeah. I’d forgotten about that.
We might have all kinds of things walking around with their heads falling off..lol
WOW! That’s a heck of a temperature swing!!!
We have swings here, too, but not quite that drastic. Our swings are usually from warm to cold, with maybe a 30 degree difference in a very few hours.
I’ve been worried about the cranes because we’ve had mighty chilly weather the past week. They seem to be doing fine, though. They’ll enjoy the warm up this week, I’m sure.
Or you can go to a good feed store and buy a 50 pound sack of D E and Phyrethrum Powder and mix your own for a huge cost savings. Just don't go around throwing it around willy nilly or you'll wipe-out all your good bugs just treat the fire ant mounds.
D E is kind of mechanical so bugs can't get immune to it. I mix a small amount of food grade (not the swimming pool stuff) with animal feed for 3 days in a row a month during the warm months to prevent worms. A 1/8 teaspoon per cat, up that scale for dogs based on weight and a small handful for 4 middle sized goats, not sure about Phyrethrum but I don't think the bugs get immune to it either, just read the labels and follow instructions.
Thanks for the input.
How cute! (photo of chick)
You mentioned you wanted to learn about birds.
Here’s a cool short video about birding in S Texas:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2C81bXu29I
Also, Corpus Christi, Tx is one of the ‘birdiest’ if not the birdiest city in the U.S.
Bird watcher’s paradise.
“Also, Corpus Christi, Tx is one of the ‘birdiest’ if not the birdiest city in the U.S.”
LOL, that’s where I live, and yet I know almost nothing. Thanks for the links, I appreciate it.
I also remember a lot of tarantulas growing up. They would cross the road by the thousands. We would catch them and put them in jars. Or just shoot them with a BB gun. I guess the fire ants have ruined them as well.
That’s what I heard as well. They came in a wooden crate around the root ball of a tree. Following that were other invasions but they think it was the original.
From ‘Texas Treasures 1’ watch the amazing horned lizard
shot blood from his eyes:
From National Geographic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyFqY-oaqm8
start approx 1:28
Cool video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhw7JSHPMg4
“I also remember a lot of tarantulas growing up. They would cross the road by the thousands. We would catch them and put them in jars. Or just shoot them with a BB gun. I guess the fire ants have ruined them as well.”
_________________________________
Don’t ever remember seeing a tarantula in the wild- which is ok with me. Frightened of spiders of all kinds even though some are harmless and even beneficial to the environment. :)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.